Chelsea prepare second bid for Robinho
Published 00:00 09/08/08 By By Martin Lipton Chief Football Writer
Chelsea were last night preparing the next stage of their attempt to land striker Robinho after Real Madrid rebuffed the opening offer.
Blues chief executive Peter Kenyon tabled the £21million bid for the star on Thursday.
But Real want at least £30m, and rejected the offer for the 24-year-old saying he is not for sale. However, Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro claims the Brazilian feels utterly unwanted in Madrid.
Ribeiro said: "Robinho is very angry with the way the Madrid bosses are dealing with him.
"His ambition is to become the best player in the world but he won't achieve that at Madrid because they treat him like a normal player.
"He is getting affection from Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari. He knows Robinho well and calls him every day."
But Real president Ramon Calderon said: "Robinho will be going nowhere. He is going to stay with us. Of course we know that Chelsea are interested but he's one of the best players in our team."
Chelsea view that as merely a negotiating position, and the next step is likely to be an improved offer of £25m.
Ribeiro's claims that Scolari is constantly talking to the player may not help the situation either, given that any such contact would be a blatant case of tapping up.
Scolari believes the former Santos man will give his squad the element they are missing to fulfil their domestic and European ambitions.
And Didier Drogba has signaled his willingness to knuckle down and play for Scolari after hinting that he wanted to leave for most of this year.
Last night striker Drogba said: "I've two years of my contract left.
"If my employers don't want me to leave, I'll be a Chelsea player."
