United have accepted a world record offer of £80m from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo.

"United have agreed to give Real Madrid permission to talk to the player," read a statement from the Old Trafford club.

It added that the decision came at Ronaldo's request after he "again expressed his desire to leave".

United described the offer for the 24-year-old forward as unconditional and added that they expected the matter to be concluded by 30 June.

It is understood that the transfer fee would be made available for Red Devils manager Sir Alex Ferguson to invest in the transfer market.

Madrid signed Brazilian Kaka for a reported £56m earlier in the week, surpassing the previous world record fee in pounds sterling of £45.6m, which Real paid for Zinedine Zidane in 2001.

That deal was sealed by the ambition of returning Real president Florentino Perez, who previously led the Spanish club from 2000 to 2006 - during the famous galacticos era.

And Perez had previously made it clear he would do "everything possible" to sign Ronaldo.

Madrid have also been linked with Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, Valencia's David Villa and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery since Perez's unopposed election signalled the return of their vast spending.

There had been reports that Madrid would have to pay a £26m penalty clause to Ronaldo as a consequence of an alleged "pre-contract" arrangement that had been agreed with the player's representative Jorge Mendes, if the Spanish club did not sign him this summer.

But the BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid stated that Real had yet to confirm any agreement to buy Ronaldo or the agreed price of £80m stated by United. Thursday is a public holiday in Madrid and no announcements are expected.

"This was one that was never ever going to go away," said BBC Radio 5 Live chief football correspondent Mike Ingham.

"After the Champions League final he criticised Sir Alex Ferguson's tactics, he threw his toys out of the pram in the derby with Manchester City after he was substituted. He's been very high maintenance. And £80m is hard to resist.

"Personally, I'm very sorry to see him leave but it's absolutely inevitable. If it hadn't been this summer it would have been next summer.

"This could mean they might be able to keep Carlos Tevez, maybe Wayne Rooney can be liberated."

Ronaldo, who joined United in 2003 from Sporting Lisbon for £12.2m, was strongly linked with a move to the Spanish capital in the summer of 2008.

United lodged a complaint with world governing body Fifa last June over what they believed was a deliberate attempt by Real to unsettle the winger.

After a long, drawn-out saga that ran through the summer months, the Portugal international insisted he was happy at Old Trafford and remained at United for the 2008-2009 season.

In the 2007-08 season he scored 42 goals, which topped the previous club record for a midfielder held by George Best, and was on the scoresheet as United defeated Chelsea in the Champions League final.

Ronaldo was the top scorer for his club last season, with 26 goals, taking his total for United to 118 in 292 appearances.

United have accepted an offer of 80 million pounds for Christiano Ronaldo.It seems he has got his wish of going to Madrid?Who can we get in to re-place him?I hope we draw them in the champions league and knock them out!.His body language last season was terrible(thigh slapping,throwing his arms in the air) and his tantrum after being subsituted in the derby was a disgrace.Utd must have someone in mind to replace him?Valencia from Wigan perhaps?Ribery?We will all miss the goals he gets for us but the ball is in his court now.

Manchester United seem to have a clear run if they follow up their informal inquiry about Wigan Athletic's Antonio Valencia with a firm offer, with the player's representatives no longer optimistic about Real Madrid coming in with a bid.

Real did table a bid in January but that was under the presidency of Vicente Boluda, at a time when then manager Juande Ramos was hiring English-based players and Valencia's agent Diego Herrera expressed some doubt that Florentino Perez would be back again. "The only official [offer] from Real Madrid for Antonio was last January," Herrera said. "The offer came from the previous president but Florentino is over there now so I don't know if they are going to go for him again."

The departure of Steve Bruce from Wigan has convinced Valencia that it is time to leave the club. "It is the right time for him to leave, now that the manager has left. He feels it is time to move on," said Herrera, who will speak to Wigan this week and travel to Lancashire next week, though Valencia has not been given the kind of encouragement about United's phone call to trigger contact with his agent.

Perez's desire for acquisitions shows no sign of abating with David Villa also now in his sights – denying John Terry the signing he wanted for Chelsea and City chief executive Garry Cook one of his own foremost targets. Sources close to Perez claimed yesterday that £33m had secured Villa's services. The add-ons for Villa winning trophies could take the eventual price closer to £40m. Villa's personal preference for staying in Spain looks to have swayed him Madrid's way.

Villa will join Kaka as the second of five promised Real Madrid signings and yesterday the Brazilian admitted it was David Beckham that helped him choose Real. "I spoke with a lot of ex-Madrid player such as Beckham and they told me what a marvellous club it was. Everyone said it would be a great move," the £59m signing said after his move to the Bernabeu from Milan.

United must now wait to see what Perez may do with regard to Cristiano Ronaldo. There is a school of thought within Spain that the purported interest in Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry is a means to flush a transfer request out of the Portuguese. Perez said: "I will do everything possible to get Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid."

But he appeared to pour cold water on suggestions that Liverpool's Xabi Alonso could be on his way. "He is a great player but he plays in a big team and I haven't heard that they plan to sell him," he said. "It's obvious [Liverpool manager Rafa] Benitez is counting on keeping him. He's a good player and it wouldn't be easy to replace him."

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United's Dimitar Berbatov and ­Nemanja Vidic will NOT be leaving during the ­summer – according to their agents.

The men representing defender Vidic and striker Berbatov have both poured cold water on rumours linking them with moves away from Old Trafford.

Paolo Fabbri, who handles the ­affairs of Serbian international ­Vidic, said that Vidic would not go unless he was the subject of a “crazy offer”.

Vidic has been linked with a £25m move to Barcelona or AC Milan but Fabbri said: “I don’t think we will have any surprises in the short-term – we are not planning to move.

“Barcelona and many other teams can be interested in Vidic – that is another story.

“Three or four Italian teams would be pleased to have the player.”

The 27-year-old was voted Player of the Year at Old Trafford last ­season by supporters.

But doubts have grown about his future at the club following news that his wife Ana was having ­difficulty settling in Manchester.

But after talks with chief ­executive David Gill, Fabbri is adamant Vidic will not be leaving United – despite strong interest from rival clubs.

He said: “Nemanja Vidic will stay in Manchester.

“We were at United to speak with David Gill for other reasons – but we also spoke about Vidic.

“Vidic is supposed to stay there. A move is not possible unless some Arab makes a crazy offer!

“But in a normal situation ­Nemanja will stay there.”

Berbatov’s agent Emil Dantchev said that the Bulgarian will also be a United player next season.

There has been speculation he may be sold but his agent insisted: ­“Despite speculation that he may leave I want to declare that Dimitar will play for Manchester United next season.

“There is no desire from the ­management for any separation. He will stay and we hope he will win what he missed out on this year.”

Berbatov has failed to hit the heights shown during his two years at Spurs – but United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is expected to show faith with the Bulgarian international.

Vidic has been ruled out of Serbia’s World Cup qualifier against Faroe Islands tomorrow with an ankle injury.