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Robinho
Move in doubt: Robinho could stay at Real Madrid after all

Robinho's move to Chelsea hits a snag

Simon Johnson and Graham Hunter
29 Aug 2008


Robinho's anticipated £29.5million move to Chelsea appeared to hit a major snag this morning after Real Madrid manager Bernd Schuster told club president Ramon Calderon that he could not sanction the deal.

The German, who guided Real to the Spanish title last season, was said to be furious at the potential sale. He refused to talk to reporters after Wednesday's 5-3 friendly win over Sporting Lisbon at the Bernabeu and is believed to have even threatened to quit should the striker be sold.

Chelsea, who maintained today that transfer talks were ongoing, had hoped to parade the Brazilian in front of the Stamford Bridge crowd before Sunday's game against Tottenham. But Robinho turned up for training with Real this morning and Calderon appeared to offer the player an olive branch in an interview with Madrid-based paper Marca.

The president pointed the finger at Robinho's agent Wagner Ribeiro and claimed that the striker had been badly advised before he said he wanted to join Chelsea last Friday.

Calderon said: "I think it's normal that a player says that he wants to leave and in the case of Robinho I accept that as being totally normal. It seems to me that it's a mistake, but it's his problem.

"I think that his representatives are advising him very badly and I have a lot of faith in the player. I believe he has a lot of quality and could be successful here. But I say it again that I have to defend the interests of this club in the best way possible."

With just four days remaining until the end of the transfer window, Chelsea will now be concerned. Chief executive Peter Kenyon had confidently claimed Robinho would be their player before the weekend but it now appears talks will do down to the wire.

Blues owner Roman Abramovich is adamant that he will not pay any more than £29.5 for the Brazilian, even though he was on a list of two players that Phil Scolari wanted to sign this summer - the other being Deco.

Real have been trying to find a replacement for Robinho and have been closely linked with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, another Chelsea target.

The pursuit of Manchester United's Ronaldo ended when the winger finally committed to staying at Old Trafford for at least another season and Kaka wants to stay in Milan.

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