CHELSEA’S audacious bid to sign Kaka is poised to set in motion a £114m chain of transfers that could culminate in Emmanuel Adebayor moving to AC Milan and Roque Santa Cruz going to Arsenal.

Chelsea are hopeful of signing the world player of the year for £80m in the most expensive transfer deal in football history, comfortably surpassing the £45m that Real Madrid spent on signing Zinedine Zidane from Juventus in 2001.

Milan were forced to release a statement yesterday in response to comments from Kaka’s personal assistant, Diogo Kotscho, who claimed that the player had set his heart on a move to Stamford Bridge. “This is the first time we feel that a deal will definitely happen,” Kotscho said. “Chelsea are the club to be at right now. They are building a team to win everything.”

But although Milan vice-pres-ident Adriano Galliani revealed earlier this year that Chelsea had made an astronomical bid to sign the 26-year-old Brazil international, the Rossoneri have again ruled out selling their most prized asset. A Milan statement read: “Regarding the comments, Milan director of communications Vittorio Mentana reiterates that Kaka is absolutely not for sale.”

As the summer transfer merry-go-round gathers pace, Milan are ready to revive their interest in Adebayor, left, and sign the striker for a fee in the region of £22.5m. Sources at Arsenal have confirmed that manager Arsène Wenger is willing to sanction the sale of the Togo international and it is understood that if the Italians can meet Arsenal’s valuation, a deal could go through as early as this week.

Wenger will then turn his attention to capturing Blackburn striker Santa Cruz, who would cost about £11.5m, as a direct replacement for Adebayor.

However, the two transfers are dependent on Kaka moving to Chelsea, a switch that would boost the coffers of the financially stricken Italian club and release funds to strengthen its ageing squad. Talks between Chelsea and Milan are understood to be at an advanced level, eased by the desire of all parties to complete the deal.