"After 11 years here I want what's best for Real Madrid," the 27-year-old told Spanish daily ABC on Wednesday. "If at some time I have to sacrifice myself in order for the team to progress then I will do it.

"If the club calls you up and says that you have to go, then as a player you have to be prepared to look for a way out that will benefit everyone."

Raul has won three European Cups and four league titles with Real but has come in for heavy criticism for his poor form over the past two seasons and some sections of the Spanish media have said he no longer merits a place in the team.

However the Spain international's contract runs until 2010 and he made it clear he wants to stay and fight for his place.

"If I listened to the polls in some papers it looks as though I should leave now," he said. "But I'm certain the club doesn't have the same view as the press. I want to stay here and I believe the club feels the same way.

"No one has gifted me anything at Real, I've earned everything through hard work, effort and a lot of pain. I still feel useful to the club and believe I haven't reached my peak.

"But I don't want to be in the way. All I want is for the club to be clear with me."

Real are facing the prospect of ending a second successive season without winning a major trophy, something that has not happened for 13 years.

They were knocked out of the King's Cup by second division Valladolid in January and were eliminated from the Champions League by Juventus last week.

Sunday's 2-1 defeat at modest city rivals Getafe also means they effectively waved goodbye to their chances of winning the league title as they trail leaders Barcelona by 11 points with 10 matches to play.

Raul admitted that he was at a loss to explain why a team that contains Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and David Beckham had performed so poorly over the last two seasons.

"Collectively we are finding it very difficult to dominate our opponents, to keep the ball and to create chances," he said.

"It's difficult to understand why we don't dominate games with the players we've got. It's clear the team is not performing at its maximum level, isn't winning trophies and need to look for solutions."