From “Sergio Ramos Wants to Go Now” to “Respect the Badge!”, two front-page headlines in Spain helped bring the tension between Ramos and Real Madrid into the open and the defender closer to Manchester United. The distrust in the relationship between Madrid’s vice-captain and the president, Florentino Pérez, is not new but, with Monday morning’s front-page headlines here, it has come to the surface – making rapprochement more difficult. United may feel that their hand has been strengthened.

Ramos has two years left on his contract at the Santiago Bernabéu but it is rare for a renewal to be allowed to run so late and negotiations have been at a standstill for some time, while the relationship between president and player has descended into bitterness, acrimony and mutual suspicion. Ten years after joining the club, Ramos is prepared to leave. The Guardian reported United’s interest on Sunday afternoon and the Spanish sports daily AS followed with the stark headline: “Sergio Ramos Wants to Go Now” on Monday morning.

On the other side, underlining that this is a battle that is likely to be partly played out in public, deepening the divide between player and president, the sports supplement of the newspaper La Razón opened with a front-page photograph of Ramos celebrating a goal by lifting his hand to his heart, where Madrid’s badge adorns the shirt. It is accompanied by a headline that demands: “Respect the badge!”

Ramos has been at Real Madrid for 10 years and scored the goal that rescued the décima, their 10th European Cup. He is the club’s vice-captain and has played over 400 games. He was also among those players who fell out with José Mourinho and publicly defended Carlo Ancelotti. Pérez did not appreciate that, nor did he welcome Ramos’s demands during contract negotiations. Ramos earns €6m-€7m a year after tax; €12m fewer than Cristiano Ronaldo and less than Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Iker Casillas. Pérez also does not trust players who accumulate power.

Ramos believes Madrid have repeatedly briefed against him in an attempt to damage his reputation and his standing with supporters, portraying him as a money-grabber not interested in the club. That sense, which has grown over recent weeks, has come to a head and was reflected in the headline in La Razón this morning – a newspaper that is extremely close to Pérez.

The front page of AS featuring Ramos. Photograph: AS

In an aggressive editorial Ramos and his agent are accused of lacking commitment by Josep Pedrerol, who also hosts a TV show that has been critical of the defender and a champion of the president, while his competitors on the TV channel Cuatro are lined up on the other side. “[Ramos] will go down in history as the man who scored the goal of the décima,” La Razón’s editorial reads. “But he could also be remembered as the footballer, who while he was an idol at the [Bernabéu], auctioned himself to clubs from all round Europe for a few euros.” The suggestion that he might not respect the badge is about the gravest accusation to level at him.

Last week the Barcelona presidential candidate Jordi Majó said that he had been offered Ramos but admitted that he had not spoken to the player or indeed to the player’s agent, who insisted that the story was categorically untrue.

AS, which has long been critical of Pérez and a defender of both Ramos and the goalkeeper Casillas, this morning suggested that Ramos was annoyed that Madrid did not deny the story, when other rumours have been denied and other players protected.

Some supporters naturally concluded that Ramos had offered himself to Madrid’s greatest rival and that, the player’s camp suspect, is exactly the point: that not only did Madrid not deny the story, they were behind it. Real would deny that but there could be no better way of damaging his status and justifying an eventual sale that might otherwise be unpopular with supporters than releasing that rumour. It is a tactic that has been employed before. It also serves as an expression of Madrid’s annoyance at what they see as Ramos’s manner of negotiating and his refusal to accept their first offer of contract renewal.

While they have not yet said anything publicly (and nor has Ramos), Madrid’s position remains that any interested clubs would have to pay the full buy-out clause, €180m, in other words the player is not for sale. And nor have they received a bid, the line goes. Meanwhile the posturing continues via third parties.

“Encouraging interest from Barcelona sounds like a joke in very bad taste,” La Razón concluded. Ramos would probably agree, while insisting he was not responsible for doing so. The lack of trust is extreme. It has got nasty already; it may end up getting nastier. United will hope that it ends with them getting their man.