Alves left out of squad, poised to leave Sevilla

Sevilla's Brazilian wing-back Daniel Alves is poised to sign for Chelsea after being left out of the squad for the first leg of their Champions League third round qualifying tie against AEK Athens yesterday.

Spanish media reported that Chelsea's chief executive Peter Kenyon met representatives from Sevilla in Madrid yesterday and that the two clubs had agreed a basic fee of 32 million euros plus an extra four million depending on results for the 24-year-old international.

Last week, the dynamic left-back asked Sevilla to listen to offers from big clubs, including Chelsea and Real Madrid, saying he felt it was time for him to move on.

He then told Sevilla coach Juande Ramos that he was not ready to play in today's game against AEK. If he had played he would have been unable to play for another team in the Champions League this season.

"Alves is not on the list," Ramos said. "He told me he was not in the right condition to play and I have informed the club about the situation. Daniel is an influential player and the fact that clubs of the stature of Chelsea and Real Madrid are after him shows how important he is."

If the deal goes through it is thought Chelsea will be more willing to sell Arjen Robben to Real Madrid who have been keen to sign the Dutch winger for over a year.

Alves, who joined Sevilla from Bahia in 2003 for less than a million euros, signed a contract extension with the Andalucians last December tying him to the club to 2012.

He has been one of Sevilla's outstanding players in recent seasons and was a key figure in their UEFA Cup triumphs in 2006 and 2007 and their King's Cup victory last June.

He was part of the Brazil team that won the Copa America in July.