Chelsea will hold last-ditch talks with Arjen Robben at the end of this week in an attempt to persuade the Holland winger to sign a new deal. Hans, his father and representative, is expected to meet Peter Kenyon, the Chelsea chief executive, who has offered a contract extension worth £90,000 a week.

Robben has two years left on his contract, but Real Madrid are confident that they have been given the green light to sign him for about £15 million. Ramón Calderón, the Real president, has said that Robben could be the “director of the orchestra” that the Spanish champions need.

Chelsea remain keen on Florent Malouda as a possible replacement for Robben on the left flank. Lyons have said they are willing to sell him, but Chelsea must increase their offer from £12 million to £17 million. The France player returned to training yesterday.

“He was very serene and happy to come back [to training], even if he was annoyed by the clubs that pursued him during the holidays,” Jean-Michel Aulas, the Lyons president, said. “We will help him to leave if we get offers to the level we are expecting, but if not he will stay.”

Chelsea’s big-spending days in the transfer market may be over, but yesterday José Mourinho responded to suggestions that the purse strings have been tightened by Roman Abramovich, the owner, because of their deteriorating relationship from a row over the contribution of Andriy Shevchenko.

With the exception of Steve Sidwell, Claudio Pizarro and Alex, who have been signed on free transfers, Mourinho has been told that he must work with what he has. “Nobody from the board said, ‘José, you have to only bring in players on a Bosman [free] because we have no money to spend,’ ” he said. “I think it’s bad business if you only bring in players under the Bosman law and they are not good enough. If the only reason you are bringing them is because they are free, they become expensive. The point is to bring in good players.”

Mourinho said he signed Sidwell, the midfield player, from Reading because he liked his British mentality. “He is very welcome in our dressing-room and our philosophy,” the Chelsea manager said. “He is an English player with English mentality completely adapted to the Premiership with a successful period at Reading. He is wishing for new thingsI for his career, playing for a big club and winning titles is a dream for any young player, so yes, he is a player I would like to have and I told the board we should try to sign.”

Michael Ballack will have surgery in Germany today on his ankle after a complication in the healing of the wound after his first operation, in May. He is in doubt for the tour to the United States, which leaves on Monday. Chelsea are due to take part in an open training session at University of California, Los Angeles a week today before playing Club America at the Stanford Stadium on July 14.

Gérémi, the midfield player, has left Chelsea for Newcastle United on a free transfer. Gérémi was frustrated by his limited first-team opportunities at Stamford Bridge and cut short a holiday in Africa to fly to Tyneside to complete a medical to seal a three-year contract worth an estimated £60,000 a week.

— Sven-Göran Eriksson is to reward Tord Grip for his loyalty with a job as chief scout at Manchester City. The 69-year-old was Eriksson’s assistant throughout the former England head coach’s six-year tenure in charge of the national team. As a player, Grip – a former full-time baker – won three caps for Sweden. He managed the Sweden women’s team, Norway and coached Lazio, the Italian club, from 1998-2000.