Schuster said that if the Madrid giants could have met Ballack's salary demands, the Germany captain would have been their player.

However according to their coach, Real did not have the wage structure to bring in the midfielder.

"Ballack has an excellent contract with Chelsea that would bust Real's salary structure," the Madrid coach told German magazine Kicker.

"No player here is in that range and we didn't want to go there."

Ballack has been out of the Chelsea side since April with an injury and has been dropped from their UEFA Champions League squad, prompting rumours of a Stamford Bridge exit.

And Schuster admits that a January move for the German could be possible if the two parties can agree on finances.

"The door for Michael is not closed," he said. "He has his soccer qualities and they will be there in six months as well. But it would be a financial story."

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