Manchester United have announced today that they are ready to accept a bid from Barcelona for England captain David Beckham.
United said in a club statement an offer had been made to buy Beckham following a meeting between United officials and Joan Laporta, one of the candidates to become Barcelona's club president in Sunday's vote.
The unspecified offer is subject to Laporta winning the presidential race and to midfielder Beckham, English soccer's most famous player, agreeing terms with the Spanish club.
He is reported to earn stg£100,000 a week after signing a contract with United in May 2002 taking him up to June 2005.
"Manchester United confirms that club officials have met Joan Laporta, the leading candidate for the presidency of Barcelona," a United statement said.
"These meetings have resulted in an offer being made for the transfer of David Beckham to Barcelona.
"This offer is subject to a number of conditions and critically to both Mr Laporta being elected president on June 15 and Barcelona subsequently reaching agreement with David Beckham on his personal contract.
"Manchester United confirms that in the event that all of the conditions are fulfilled then the offer would be acceptable."
However Beckham is thought to be unhappy with the latest developments in his transfer saga and his representatives, SFX, issued a statement today saying: "David is very disappointed and surprised to learn of this statement (from United) and feels he is being used as a political pawn in the Barcelona presidential elections.
"David's advisors have no plan to meet Mr Laporta or his representatives."
Laporta's bid to become Barcelona president has gained support in recent weeks, but advertising executive Lluis Bassat was favourite to win before today's news.
Beckham, who has been linked with a number of top Spanish and Italian clubs, is on holiday in the United States.
The 28-year-old midfielder hinted today that he could be ready to leave United, for whom he has played since his days as a trainee at Old Trafford.
"I am a Manchester United player...as long as they want me, then I'll stay," he told the Los Angeles Times.
"I have never said that I'd never move away from Manchester and I have never said that I'd end my career there."
Advertising mogul Bassat began the campaign for the Barcelona presidency as an overwhelming favourite, with Laporta a rank outsider polling only around five percent.
Laporta has gained support since news of his interest in signing Beckham was made public, however, and in the latest newspaper polls over the weekend he was within three points of his chief rival.
He told a hastily-convened press conferencce that he will begin transfer talks with the England captain as soon as he arrives home from his holiday in the United States.
Laporta said: "When David Beckham arrives from holiday, we will begin negotiations with him. If I am not elected president, I would turn over the transfer to the man who does win."
Another of the candidates, Martinez Rovira, dismissed the potential acquisition of Beckham as mere publicity.
"Beckham is a media signing and more of a dream than reality. He is a player we would never try to sign," Rovira said on Spanish radio.
"He crosses well but we need someone to score the goals. We want to sign a number nine. "Beckham makes a lot of news off the pitch but we're not interested in appearing in gossip columnns."
Around 95,000 Barcelona club members have the right to choose the new president in Sunday's vote.