Robinho of Real Madrid takes his place on the substitutes bench before the start of  the Super Copa second leg match between Real Madrid and Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on August 24, 2008 in Madrid, Spain.
Robinho of Real Madrid takes his place on the substitutes bench before the start of the Super Copa second leg match between Real Madrid and Valencia at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium on August 24, 200Show more

Robinho left out of Madrid squad



MADRID // Robinho has been left out of Real Madrid's squad for their opening Primera Liga game of the season at Deportivo La Coruna tomorrow. However, the Madrid coach Bernd Schuster denied the decision to omit the Brazilian international from the squad meant he was about to be sold to Chelsea. "Next week when he comes back from international duty, we will be able to deal with him and everything will change," Schuster was quoted as saying on the official website of Spanish sports daily Marca. Schuster explained Robinho could not be expected to be in the right frame of mind to play for Los Galacticos until after the transfer window closes in England on Monday night. "A lot is going on and today (Saturday) it can't all be cleared up. It will be by Sept 2," Schuster said. "For us, he continues to be an important player but we have to look at the player's condition. In recent weeks the pressure around him has been greater, things have been said and the player is not in the right state," Schuster concluded. Madrid, who this week failed in their attempts to sign the Valencia striker David Villa and the Villarreal midfielder Santi Cazorla, have recently stated that Robinho will not be sold despite the player's plea for a move. However, Robinho, 24, told Brazilian media on Friday that negotiations were continuing. The Spanish champions rejected Chelsea's initial ?32 million (Dh172.4m) bid. The London club have reportedly offered Robinho a large increase on his current annual salary, believed to be around ?2.1m. Robinho, who joined Madrid from Santos three years ago, was reportedly annoyed by Madrid's refusal to allow him to play for Brazil in the Beijing Olympics, while other rumours suggest he was less than pleased with plans to make him the makeweight in Madrid's attempts to land the Manchester United midfielder Cristiano Ronaldo.

*AP