Players' representative Gordon Taylor has threatened to pull out of vital talks aimed at finding an alternative to the present transfer system.

Taylor, chairman of international players' union FIFPro, is privately sceptical about the chances of a consensus being reached on the movement of players over the age of 23 by the October 31 deadline which has been imposed by the European Commission.

And, in a strongly worded statement released following yesterday's session chaired by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, FIFPro have threatened to quit the Transfer Task Force which is supposed to be reaching agreement among football's club, associations, leagues and players.

''We (FIFPro) have decided to participate one last time - on October 12 - at the discussions with FIFA, UEFA and the professional leagues which are aimed at formulating a solution to submit to the European Commission,'' said the statement.

''After several working sessions and very long discussions, FIFPro has come to the conclusion that UEFA and the professional leagues have only one objective namely gaining time and retaining the present system at any cost.

''FIFPro is the only body to propose a solution that could give an answer to the European Commission but for unknown reasons, it has not been adopted until now.''

Taylor will highlight his concerns to Competitions' Commissioner Mario Monti at a pre-arranged meeting in Brussels next week. However, he will travel to Zurich again before that 'more in hope than expectation' of finding a solution. The latest development, which came after all the major protagonists at the meeting had left, casts a huge cloud over the whole debate.

Taylor's major argument is that the players believe that EC law is on their side but rather than find common ground, UEFA and the clubs have sought instead to bend the rules to their own favour.

Manchester United director Maurice Watkins is among those who are representing the major European leagues and he is also part of a sub-committee investigating the legal implication of the EC's argument.

It was also confirmed that agreement had been reached on the banning of international transfers for players aged under 18 and also outlined a complicated formula for the movement of players under 23, although FIFPro claim these are solutions which they initially put forward.

A European body will draft a system which will introduce four main categories for football clubs.

In England, these are expected to be those with youth academies, those with centres of excellence, semi-professional clubs and amateur clubs.