Chelsea denied they had agreed a fee with QPR for the sale of Alex.

Rangers sources suggested early yesterday their London rivals had accepted a bid for the wantaway defender but the Blues later insisted that was not the case.

QPR had an offer rejected last week but reportedly returned with an increased bid they appeared to believe would allow them begin discussing personal terms with the 29-year-old Brazilian.

Manager Andre Villas-Boas said: “We know Alex’s market value and we’re just not going to let him go quite easily... not that QPR’s offer is far, far off.”

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