Sevilla dismiss Chelsea offer for Alves

But while Sevilla dismissed Chelsea's bid, the player's agent remains confident the two clubs will soon reach an agreement on his switch to Stamford Bridge.

In limbo: Daniel Alves

Negotiations between all parties are continuing apace but Sevilla maintain that Chelsea will have to increase their offer in order to land the 24-year-old Brazilian.

A statement on Sevilla's official website read: "Sevilla would like to clarify, in relation to the news in various media stories relating to negotiations between this club and Chelsea for the transfer of the player to the London club, that Sevilla have considered the offer made by Chelsea to acquire the player as way below the level expected by the club. This being the case, Daniel remains a player of Sevilla FC."

Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho confirmed the club were in the hunt for the player after watching his side beat Reading 2-1 at the Madejski stadium on Wednesday night.

Mourinho insisted that no agreement had been reached but the player's agent Geronimo Suarez is not worried by Sevilla's decision to turn down Chelsea's offer.

He believes the transfer will go through once both clubs reassess the situation. He said: "We are expecting a solution between the clubs and are confident they are going to reach a deal.

"Sevilla have good reasons to maintain a hard position for the player because he is a star for them and they want him to stay there. Of course Chelsea want him, so both clubs at this moment need more time.

"It is not in my hands, it is in the hands of the directors of Chelsea and Sevilla, but we can hope the solution will arrive as soon as possible.

"He is determined to go there. He wants to close the deal as soon as possible," he told Sky Sports News.

Meanwhile stand-in captain Frank Lampard has revealed how Mourinho's half-time team-talk inspired them to overturn a one-goal deficit and continue their winning start to the season against Reading.

Chelsea were trailing 1-0 to an Andre Bikey goal on the half-hour - courtesy of a goalkeeping howler by Petr Cech.

Cech mistimed his punch, allowing substitute Bikey to tap the ball home with his first touch.

Mourinho, who lost central defender Ricardo Carvalho in the first half with a thigh injury, then made a double substitution at the break with Claudio Pizarro and Mikel John Obi replacing Steve Sidwell and Paulo Ferreira.

The changes worked superbly as Chelsea were in front within five minutes of the restart - first through Lampard and then Didier Drogba moments later. But Lampard insisted Mourinho's words had fired them up in the dressing room during the interval.

The England midfielder said: "He had a bit of a moan at us because we were playing within ourselves a little bit.

"They had a bit more desire, they were a hard working team, put us under pressure in the first half and deserved to be in the lead, and we're better than that. It worked and we reacted in the right way.

"My goal was an important one at the time it came. We didn't play well in the first half, and it's all about scoring important goals.

"That got us back level, we kicked on from there and we won the game in that first part of the second half. When you're 1-0 down you have to attack. We kept a lot of attacking players and it worked for us. At times you have to be gung-ho."

Former Reading midfielder Sidwell began the game in midfield but was removed at half-time.

He was left frustrated by his own performance but despite being replaced by Mikel, Sidwell was full of praise for Mourinho.

Sidwell said: "The most important thing was we got a result, but obviously performance-wise it was disappointing for me. I tried to come back and make an impression but it was not to be.

"But that's why Mourinho is the best in the business. I've said it before, tactically he got it spot-on again. In the second half we looked strong and could have had more goals."