Chelsea stepped up their pursuit of Robinho last night by offering Real Madrid £19.75 million for the Brazil forward. Robinho became Chelsea's top transfer target when Luiz Felipe Scolari replaced Avram Grant as manager last month and Chelsea are confident that he will be at Stamford Bridge before the end of the month.

The Spanish champions, who are licking their wounds after they failed to persuade Manchester United to part with Cristiano Ronaldo, have been given a taste of their own medicine after Robinho told them that he wants to move to London. Real are not used to players asking to leave the Bernabéu, but Robinho's head has been turned after Chelsea offered to double his wages to £70,000 a week.

Robinho, 24, has endured a difficult summer in the Spanish capital and expressed his disappointment in June that Real were prepared to include him in a world-record deal to sign Ronaldo. He was also angry that Real refused to allow him to play for Brazil at the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Robinho was in London last weekend when Real Madrid played Arsenal and SV Hamburg in the Emirates Cup and although doubts persist about whether the diminutive forward will adapt to the physical demands of English football, he gave as good as he got against Bacary Sagna, the France right back, in Real's 1-0 defeat by Arsenal. “He can make it in England, why not?” Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said. “He was not fazed by the physical challenge. He has strength and he looks as if he has the ingredients to do it in England.”

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Deco has been the only new arrival at Stamford Bridge since Scolari's appointment and Real are ready to do business after signing Rafael van der Vaart from Hamburg on Monday.

Ronaldo is bracing himself for a backlash from Manchester United supporters after declaring that he will stay at Old Trafford for at least another season. “It's possible but I hope it doesn't happen,” he said. “I know I'm a good professional, I know that no one's harder on me than myself and that's never going to change.”

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