LESS THAN 48 hours after unveiling Ronaldinho and promising that he would line up alongside his fellow Brazilians Pato and Kaka in attack, AC Milan were last night preparing themselves to fend off a bid for the latter from Chelsea.

Kaka's spokesman in Brazil, Diogo Kotscho is reported to have claimed last year's Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, is close to a move to Stamford Bridge.

Simultaneously, Robinho's agent claims Chelsea have made Real Madrid a "firm offer" of £31.75million for his services.

Speaking about Kaka, Kotscho is reported to have said: "Chelsea are the club to be at right now. They are building a team to win everything.

"Real Madrid offered £70m last summer and Milan did not even think about the bid. But this time is different. This is the first time we feel that a deal will definitely happen."

Milan and Chelsea were quick to rubbish those quotes, but Gaetano Paolillo, who represents the player along with Kaka's father, Bosco, told the Sunday Herald Kotscho's words were "authentic".

Kaka, who flew back to Italy from Brazil yesterday and went immediately to Milan's training ground, did not comment. He is expected to clarify the situation at a press conference tomorrow. For their part, Milan have simply issued a statement repeating that Kaka is "not for sale".

While Chelsea also insist that they have made no bid for the player, Milan themselves maintain otherwise. On Thursday, Adriano Galliani, the club's chief executive, claimed he had knocked back an "enormous" bid from Chelsea.

"I met with them to see if they were willing to let us have Andriy Shevchenko," he said. "They said no, but then they made a fabulous offer for Kaka. It was so big that I was duty-bound to put it to Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi. He was quite firm in telling me that Kaka was not for sale at any price."

For their part, Chelsea are keeping quiet. It is thought that the new Chelsea manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, who gave Kaka his debut with Brazil back in 2002, is driving the interest in the Milan star.

Wagner Ribeiro, Robinho's agent, said meanwhile that he believes his client will be staying at the Bernabeu, despite contact from Barca scout Pepe Costa.

Speculation has been rife that the player is on his way to the English Premier League, with Manchester United also reportedly interested, although on Thursday reports suggested that, in fact, Barcelona were about table a bid for him, something the latter have denied.

"I don't have an offer from Barca," he said. "But a director from the club called me to see how things are going with the player.

"I told him that there was a firm offer from Chelsea for 40million (£31.75million) but that (Madrid president) Ramon Calderon didn't want to transfer him. I am a man and I don't lie and the director who called me is Pepe Costa.

"I think it is difficult for Robinho to move to Chelsea and even more so to Barcelona because of the rivalry that exists between the two clubs."