Chelsea have £7.5M offer rejected for Real Madrid's Makelele

Real Madrid midfielder sports director Jorge Valdano has confirmed Chelsea are interested in unsettled midfielder Claude Makelele.

The Frenchman is threatening to go on strike if Real continue to refuse to open new contract talks.

Makelele is furious that he remains one of the club's lowest paid players and knows he can double his money if were to accept a move to Chelsea.

Valdano said: "Chelsea have made an approach for Makelele and we said no to their offer."

"But the player wants to double his wages. He has given us an ultimatum."

Chelsea want to pay Makelele £40,000 a week, but they had a £7.5 million bid turned down yesterday.