Chelsea in new bid for Robinho

7 August 08 by Bill

It looks like Chelsea are stepping up their attempts to sign Robinho from Real Madrid. A statement on the club’s official website today simply read:

“Further to media reports, Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today (Thursday, August 7) for the transfer of Robinho.”

Robinho was already upset about being used as a potential make-weight in any Cristiano Ronaldo transfer and the club’s decision to refuse him permission to play in Brazil’s Olympic team only pushed the player further away from the club. The bid is reported to be around £20 million but I would expect that figure to rise before any transfer happens.

Madrid signed Rafael van der Vaart recently so they do have adequate cover in Ronbinho’s position although Madrid would surely have hoped to keep the highly rated forward with the club’s recent attempt to sign Ronaldo come crashing down at long last.

On one hand, it wouldn’t be so bad if Madrid were to lose one of football’s most highly rated young forwards, even if it were to Chelsea. On the other, if Real Madrid are short a winger come next summer, we all know where they’ll come looking.