Ribeiro told The Daily Telegraph last night that he expects his client to be a Chelsea player "by either tomorrow or Friday," adding, "he should be available to Scolari for this weekend".

It would appear to confirm the confident noises emanating yesterday from the London club. "We are ever confident that it will get done," said chief executive Peter Kenyon, "but we have always said it will go to the wire."

Robinho, whose contract with Real runs to 2010 and includes a buy-out clause of £120 million, said last week that he was determined to join Chelsea, and he asked the Spanish club's directors to negotiate with them. A provisional fee of £29 million is now believed to have been agreed between the clubs.

"There were two players Luiz Felipe Scolari identified," Kenyon added. "One was Deco and one was Robinho. And we have already seen the impact Deco has made on the Premier League.

"I think the squad is strong and capable of competing in all competitions without Robinho – but with him, it is an added dimension."

Robinho's arrival would mean winger Shaun Wright-Phillips dropping even further down the pecking order at Stamford Bridge, but an agent claiming to act for the player, Wayne Lindsay, yesterday appeared to rule out a move to either Manchester City or Everton, both of whom have been heavily linked with the England international in recent days.

"He doesn't want to join either of them and we are now discussing the next move to see what we do," Lindsay said. "Because of all the problems there [City] and the uncertainty surrounding the place, he is unsure.

"He is speaking with the manager [Scolari] at the moment but he is settled in London. He would like to stay and that's the bottom line, but it is up to the manager.

"We are looking at all the options at this moment."