Real Madrid are to make a statement on Monday about Michel Salgado after Spanish radio reported that the Spanish international right back will join Chelsea next summer.
Salgado, who was also believed to be a target for Manchester United, is out of contract at the season's end and negotiations on an extension have stalled. He will be free to negotiate pre-contract agreements with any club he wishes from the start of January.
Madrid's president, Florentino Perez, is said to have told Salgado: "If I were your father I'd advise you to go."
The report about Salgado, who has just turned 28, joining Chelsea was broadcast by Cadena Ser. It claimed that he had been offered a five-year contract worth £2.6 million a year after tax. He would also receive a signing-on fee of £2.6 million. Madrid had made Salgado an after-tax offer of around £1.4 million a year, less than a quarter of what the team's "galacticos" earn.
However Salgado's agent Gines Carvajal said there was no truth in the report. "Because negotiations with Madrid have encountered some difficulties these kind of stories are bound to emerge, but it's not true at all.
"Seeing Roman Abramovich is the only one with any money, people immediately assume everyone is going to Chelsea - they even said Zidane was going. I assume Madrid will make a statement soon and we will wait for that."
Madrid yesterday refused to comment ahead of Monday's announcement. "If we get to the end of this week without an agreement, discussions will be put on hold until May," Perez said. "But it is true that if we do not agree before the end of this week it's difficult to see the player stay.
"We have made the biggest possible effort to make sure Salgado stays because we are convinced of his worth on the pitch but if he were to receive a bigger offer we would understand if he left.
"Real Madrid cannot offer every player what other clubs can - if we did we would have no budget left. Players must balance that against what we offer in sporting terms. Zidane and Beckham lost money to come because of what we offer in football terms."
Chelsea and Manchester United both refused to comment yesterday.
Liverpool's manager Gerard Houllier has welcomed the decisions of the defender Jamie Carragher and goalkeeper Chris Kirkland to sign new contracts. Kirkland (22), has committed his long-term future to the club by agreeing a new deal that will take him through to 2009.
Carragher (25), who is recovering from the leg fracture suffered when he was fouled by Lucas Neill at Blackburn in September, has extended his contract to 2007.
"I'm pleased that we've managed to sign both of them for the future," Houllier said. "We want more success here and there will be probably be some more new signings soon."
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill has admitted making an enquiry for Motherwell's highly rated midfielder Stephen Pearson, though the Irishman would have to wait until January if he was to sign the player and it is rare for him to react to transfer speculation.
But even though he faces stiff competition from a number of English Premiership clubs he revealed yesterday that he is interesting in bringing the Scotland under-21 star to Parkhead.
O'Neill said: "I will answer this by saying that I made an enquiry to Terry (Butcher, Motherwell's manager) and that's as far as that's gone."
Paul Ince, the Wolverhampton Wanderers captain, believes Paul Gascoigne could be offered a short-term contract at Molineux.
Today Ince makes his first appearance against Middlesbrough since leaving them in 2002, while Gascoigne is expected to watch the game at the Riverside. The 36-year-old midfielder has been training at Molineux for the past two weeks.
"Hopefully, he'll be given a contract," said Ince. "He's certainly pulling out all the stops to get one."
Brian Deane has joined First Division West Ham United on a free transfer from Leicester City. The 35-year-old striker has been a fringe player at Leicester this season after scoring 13 goals in 32 games in the promotion-winning team last season.
