Madrid vetoes Robinho move to Barcelona

Madrid sports tabloid As claims that Madrid has made clear to Real Madrid left winger and Brazilian international Robinho (24) and his agent Wagner Ribeiro that the player won't be able to leave for Barcelona, unless his buyout clause of 180 million euro° is paid.

If Chelsea doesn't raise its bid to 45 million euro, Madrid will propose Robinho, whose current contract expires in 2010, a renewal after his return from teh Olympic Games in Beijing.

Wagner Ribeiro insisted yesterday in an interview with Catalan radio staion Ona FM that he had been contacted by Barcelona (read more here): "I'm not lying, the person who I talked to is Pepe Costa. He's a lot in Brazil and he also talked with Robinho. He's a friend of mine and he wanted to know more about Robinho and how things are with Chelsea and Madrid.

I told him that it will be very difficult, and actually almost impossible, that Madrid would allow him to leave to Barcelona because of the rivalry. I informed Madrid sports director Mijatovic about the call but it would be like Barcelona allowing Messi to join Madrid."

Ribeiro confirmed the story later to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser, but Barcelona scout Pepe Costa denied in an interview with Catalan radio station Ona Fm that he had called the agent to ask him about the contract situation of Robinho. Costa added that Ribeiro had already abused his name in the past trying to make some operations more expensive.

Barcelona board member Rafael Yuste denied any contact in a reaction to Barcelona sports paper Sport: "I really don't know of anyone from Barcelona who would have talked with Robinho." Asked by journalists about the rumours, Barcelona president Joan Laporta didn't really enter the issue on Thursday: "Personally, I like all good players, but these kinds of things are taking care of by Txiki Begiristain."

Read more:

Robinho agent admits contact with Barcelona

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First contacts with Robinho