Real Madrid have announced a massive debt of £296million after a summer of lavish spending in the transfer market.

Having doled out some £226million (250million euros) on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Xabi Alonso, Madrid revealed the debt at their annual assembly.

However, the club appears to have lost none of its appetite for spending, with the assembly also approving a new record budget of £381million (422million euros) for the current season.

"We're going through a delicate moment with the world financial crisis but we had to make a big effort for the new arrivals of players, which explains the debt," club president Florentino Perez said.

Perez told the assembly that projected revenues, increased on previous years, should see the club cut their debt to around £180million (210million euros) by the end of the season.

The figures are likely to be jumped on by UEFA, whose president Michel Platini has announced plans to bar clubs from major European competitions unless they restrict their budget to spending only what they earn.

The assembly also heard of plans to remodel the Bernebeu and build a Real Madrid theme park at the club's training ground to enhance future revenue streams.