Wesley Sneijder, the Real Madrid midfielder, says the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo would create a bad atmosphere in the Bernabeu dressing room.

The Manchester United winger has been the subject of intense speculation over the summer linking him with a transfer to the Spanish club.

United are adamant they are not prepared to sell a player whose goals helped them to a Barclays Premier League and Champions League double last season. Reports, however, suggest Real are willing to make a world record bid for the player.

Sneijder has warned the club of the potential drawbacks if the offer is successful. "It would be bad for the dressing room if he gets a much higher salary than the rest of the squad," he said. "It's not important to me, but I know that other team-mates would not like that at all. Here we have footballers like him, for example [Arjen] Robben or Robinho.

"It's obvious that I want to play with Cristiano but you also have to maintain the equilibrium in the dressing room. At the moment no-one can say anything about him because talking well about him also shows a slight lack of respect to the players that are here and this Real Madrid has a lot of quality."

Sneijder added the Spanish champions do not need the winger. "This Madrid side do not need new signings," he said. "In the last few matches last year we were very solid and the team has grown a lot. This squad is strong enough and this season we are going to do more.

"If you bring in a player of a lot of quality, it can be better for the team. In that case, the only one thing I think we need is to sign a striker."

Robinho has been linked with a move to Chelsea but Sneijder hopes he remains in Spain. "I hope Robinho stays at Madrid because I think he is equal to Cristiano Ronaldo," he said.

"People have criticised Robinho because he hasn't performed in the big matches, but I saw important matches for Manchester United and Cristiano didn't perform either. It's not a criticism. I just want to point out that a player can't be at the same level all season."