LONDON (AP) -- Manchester United accepted a world-record transfer offer for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid on Thursday, clearing the World Player of the Year to negotiate personal terms with the Spanish club.

The Premier League champions received an unconditional offer of $131 million for Ronaldo, and unlike last offseason is willing to see its 24-year-old star join a major European rival.

But now a world-record bid appears too hard to resist for a club whose debts have spiraled to nearly $1 billion.

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