Spain's most football club, Real Madrid, was ready to pay £25 million (nearly 32 million euro) for Tottenham Hotspurs’ Bulgaria striker Dimitar Berbatov, Sunday Mirror said.

In an attempt to keep its striker, Tottenham offered Berbatov a weekly wage of £90 000 (115 000 euro), estimated at double his current salary, and a new four-year contract. The team was waiting for Berbatov’s response in June.

“Berbatov has two years left on his current deal and Tottenham does not want his contract to run into the last year, when the transfer fee will drop considerably and they will be faced with the prospect of losing the 27-year-old on a free transfer in 2010,” the newspaper said.

According to Sunday Mirror, Tottenham’s manager Juande Ramos was ready to sell the Bulgarian if he did not sign the new contract offered.