Cristiano Ronaldo was made the subject of a world record-shattering £256.6m bid from an unnamed club from the Chinese Super League and offered an £85m-a-year salary, his agent has revealed.

Ronaldo previously held the title as the world’s most expensive player in 2009 when he moved from Manchester United to Real Madrid in an £80m move before Gareth Bale, and more recently Paul Pogba, took the mantle.

The deal to take Ronaldo to China would have nearly tripled to fee United paid for Pogba this summer, while the salary on offer of £1.65m-a-week would have blown his current £288,000-a-week out of the water.

However, Jorge Mendes insisted that it would be “impossible” to sign the four-time Ballon d’Or winner and that his heart belongs to Real Madrid.

"From China, they've offered €300m (£256.6m) to Real Madrid and more than €100m (£85m) per year to the player,” Mendes told Sky Sports Italia.

"But money is not everything. Real Madrid is his life. Cristiano is happy at Real Madrid and it is impossible to go to China.

"The Chinese market is a new market. They can buy a lot of players, but then again it is impossible to go for Ronaldo. Cristiano is the best player in the world and best ever. It is normal to have some offers.

"He won the European Championship with Portugal, it's like winning the Italian league with Genoa: they were not the favourite."