Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has been linked to a billion-euro bid to buy the Spanish side Real Madrid, it has been reported.

According to a report in a Spanish newspaper AS, the Abu Dhabi sheikh and owner of Manchester City has set up a meeting with the team’s president Florentino Perez early in 2010.

The paper, quoted by the sports website TVNZ, said Sheikh Mansour is prepared to pay 1 billion euros for the La Liga giants.

Real Madrid has some of the world’s highest profile players on their books including the former Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo.

However, the deal could hit a stumbling block as the club is owned by its fans and would require their permission to change its legal statutes, the paper said.

European football league UEFA rules also do not allow one person to own more than one club.