Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Robinho revealed last night that he would like to work with his fellow countryman Luiz Felipe Scolari at Chelsea.
Real Madrid were last night considering a bid from Chelsea which sources at the Bernabeu claim is worth €60m (£48m) for the Brazilian playmaker.
On a day of conflicting stories, Robinho intially stated that he did not want to leave Real, but later in the day he confirmed that he was eager to team up with Scolari at Stamford Bridge.
Yesterday morning, in the Spanish sports daily AS, Robinho was quoted as saying: “I hope to stay at Real this year. I don’t want to be part of the Ronaldo deal.”
But later in the day, he said: “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.
“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.”
Robinho has been irritated by Real’s attempt to use him as a makeweight in their move for Cristiano Ronaldo, while the club has refused to offer a contract extension. The La Liga champions, meanwhile, are reluctant to lose the 24-year-old Brazilian while their capture of Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo remains uncertain.
“Madrid have failed to value him as he deserves,” his agent, Wagner 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.”
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 understood to be worth €2m a year. After that meeting, a bid worth €40m was sent to Madrid last Friday. A second bid was made yesterday following conversations between Ribeiro and Kenyon.
Robinho did not attend Real’s pre-season get-together in Portugal yesterday, with the official explanation that he was absent due to his call-up to the Brazilian Olympic squad. However, his agent confirmed that the player would forego his participation in Beijing in order to seal a 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.”
