Chelsea seal Robinho deal after Kenyon makes Madrid trip

Chelsea were close to completing the signing of Robinho for £25million last night after chief executive Peter Kenyon was seen arriving in Madrid to tie up the deal.

The Brazil forward described a switch to Chelsea as his 'dream move' earlier in the summer but Real Madrid's failure to secure the services of Cristiano Ronaldo from Manchester United had put the transfer in jeopardy.

The situation now seems to have been resolved and Luiz Felipe Scolari will be delighted to add his countryman to a list of summer signings that includes Deco and Jose Bosingwa.

Robinho's arrival will lead to the departure of Andriy Shevchenko, who has been told by Chelsea that he can return to AC Milan on a one-year loan after a disastrous spell in the Barclays Premier League.

Chelsea are prepared to take a massive financial hit on the deal, by paying Milan to take back the Ukraine striker.

Shevchenko, 31, is expected to return to the San Siro in the next 48 hours, two years after he joined Chelsea for £30m. The 2004 European Footballer of the Year will have part of his £5m-a-year contract covered by Chelsea.

The club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich met Milan counterpart Silvio Berlusconi to discuss the deal in Sardinia last week, and Silvano Ramaccioni, a director of the Italian club, confirmed: 'There really isn't much more to be done. We are close to the end of the deal.'

Chelsea are also on the verge of signing attacking midfielder Fabio Paim on a season-long loan from Sporting Lisbon and have loaned out former England Under 18 captain Jack Cork to Southampton until January 1.

The upbeat mood at Chelsea over Robinho contrasted last night with gloom at Tottenham, whose bid to sign Andrei Arshavin was rejected once and for all by Zenit St Petersburg. The 27-year-old Russia forward had been keen to play for Spurs following a conversation with manager Juande Ramos but a fee was not agreed with Zenit, who refused to budge on their £20million valuation.