· Real wait to sign Ronaldo before releasing forward
Real Madrid were last night considering a bid which sources at the Bernabéu claim is worth €60m (£48m) for the Brazilian playmaker Robinho after the Chelsea chief executive, Peter Kenyon, called Madrid's sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, to increase a €40m offer first tabled last Friday. However, the La Liga champions are reluctant to lose the 24-year-old Brazilian while their capture of Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo remains uncertain. Robinho, meanwhile, is determined to move to Stamford Bridge in order to work with their new coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.
Chelsea's renewed bid came in the wake of a tense meeting at the Bernabéu yesterday morning in which Robinho, flanked by his agent Wagner Ribeiro, told Mijatovic face to face of his desire to leave Madrid and play under Scolari. Robinho described the chance to link up with the Chelsea manager as "a dream".
Robinho failed to report to a pre-season get-together yesterday afternoon and will today fly to Brazil. His absence was officially attributed to his call-up for the Brazilian Olympic squad, but owes more to his annoyance at the Madrid side's failure to negotiate his departure. His advisers believe Real cannot oblige him to stay in light of their pursuit of Ronaldo. They are working to break the deadlock.
Robinho has been irritated by Real's attempt to use him as a makeweight in their move for the Old Trafford winger, while the club has refused to offer a contract extension.
"Madrid have failed to value him as he deserves," Ribeiro said, "and I do not like the fact that they tried to include him in the Ronaldo deal. Money is not the problem for us now. What matters for Robinho is to leave the club and play for Scolari at Chelsea."
During yesterday's meeting, Mijatovic told Robinho and Ribeiro that any interested club would have to meet the player's €150m [£119.6m] buy-out clause. Such clauses are not binding outside Spain and privately Real would welcome bids for the Brazilian. They stand to make a substantial profit on a player who cost €25m from Santos in 2005.
Yet Real are nervous about losing the Brazilian now because supporters are unhappy about any prospective sale and are still not sure of succeeding in their efforts to sign Ronaldo. The Madrid club does not want to be left empty-handed.
Although Chelsea's interest in Robinho is long-standing, it was the arrival at Stamford Bridge of countryman Scolari that persuaded him to swap the Castellana for the Kings Road. "It would be a dream for me to work with Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is one of the best coaches in the world. I have always spoken highly of him and he has always spoken very highly of me, since well before he was at Chelsea," Robinho said last night. "In 2003, when I was unknown in Europe, he called me to play in a charity match. It was brief but it was enough for me to see his style and character."
The Brazilian believes that a move to London offers him the opportunity to make a fresh start, as well as the chance to experience a new life after a career at Real Madrid where, played out of position, he has only occasionally shown glimpses of living up to his billing as the new Pele.
Ribeiro and Chelsea's Peter Kenyon met on three occasions last week and the Brazilian was even introduced to the club's owner, Roman Abramovich. The two parties agreed personal terms that include a five-year contract with a three-fold increase in Robinho's salary, understood to be €2m a year. After that meeting, a faxed bid worth €40m was sent to Madrid last Friday. A second bid was made yesterday following conversations between Ribeiro and Kenyon but Real are yet to respond formally.
Although Robinho's absence from the club's Portuguese get-together yesterday was attributed to his insistence on playing at the Beijing Olympics, that is an honour he would forgo to complete his move to Chelsea.
"Robinho wants to play the Olympics for Brazil, but he knows it is not a possibility if he moves to Chelsea," said Ribeiro. "Right now we are not thinking much about that, we are more worried with his future, where he is going to play next season."
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