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Sergio Ramos has been taking English lessons ahead of a potential move to Manchester United, according to reports in Spain.
A source close to the top at Real Madrid told The Independent's Ian Herbert that Ramos could be bluffing to get improved terms on his contract - but the Spanish international, 29, may have pushed the club too far in what is the latest of a series of confrontations with the club, with Manchester United set to capitalise.
Ramos is unhappy at leaks about his future and nobody from Real Madrid coming out to deny that he had been offered to bitter rivals Barcelona.
Show all 7 1 /7Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Diego Costa In addition to his two stamps against Liverpool, the Chelsea striker picked up 10 bookings in all competitions last season. For a defender that might not be a terrible record but for a striker who doesn't strictly need to make many tackles, it's shocking. The chants of 'Diego, Diego' from Chelsea fans just seem to spur him on.
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Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Pepe The Real Madrid man has built a career on being a no-nonsense defender. When he appeared to stamp on the hand of Lionel Messi during El Classico in 2012 he took it a bit far. He didn't do his side any favours in the 2010/11 Champions League semi-final either when he managed to get sent off during their defeat to great rivals Barcelona.
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Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Sergio Ramos Real Madrid have not one but two contenders for dirtiest player in the land. Ramos is a great talent, no doubt about it. But he's also an absolute liability. During the course of his career he's seen a stunning 19 red cards (although he didn't get sent off at all last season). To put that in context, that's more than Roy Keane (7) and Patrick Vieira (8) saw in the Premier League combined.
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Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Luis Suarez The Barcelona forward picks up bookings and red cards, but he also bites opponents (as Branislav Ivanovic, Giorgio Chiellini and Otman Bakkal can testify) and flips the bird at supporters that give him stick. A real contender.
Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Sergio Busquets However, Suarez might not even be the baddest man at the Nou Camp. Busquets has been a central player in Barcelona's brilliant team over recent years but whilst the rest are playing tiki-taka, the midfielder can usually be found kicking opponents in the shin. He once stood on the head of Pepe, regularly dives and was accused of calling Marcelo a "monkey".
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Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Philippe Mexes If Mexes already had a reputation as a bad boy on the pitch he confirmed it just this weekend when he grabbed Lazio captain Stefano Mauri by the throat, an incident that earned him a four-match ban.
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Football's dirtiest players - the contenders Joey Barton Whilst the QPR midfielder parades as a reformed character more interested in philosophy than fighting, there remains a sense that trouble is never far from Barton. Away from the pitch he has stubbed a cigar into the eye of a young team-mate and been sent to prison for assault and affray for an incident in Liverpool city centre. Meanwhile he's been banned numerous times for on-field offences and most notably for 12 games for a training ground incident involving Ousmane Dabo in which he left his team-mate unconscious.
Spanish newspaper AS report that the centre-back, who has a €200million (£143m) buyout clause, met with Manchester United officials in a London hotel in April and has been taking English lessons in preparation for an exit.
Real Madrid value Ramos at around €65m (£46.5m) with United interested in including goalkeeper David De Gea as part of an exchange deal.
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