New Chelsea boss Claudio Ranieri has failed in his bid to bring Real Madrid winger Savio to Stamford Bridge - with both sides claiming they pulled the plug on the deal.
This morning, Savio announced he had decided to stay at the Bernabeu Stadium after taking the advice of several of his team-mates, as well as Chelsea's former Real defender Christian Panucci, who was quoted as telling the Brazilian he would be "mad to come".
"I have listened to the words of Roberto Carlos, Flavio Conceicao and even Panucci, and they have made me think better of moving," Savio insisted. "I don't want to leave Real. I just wanted to listen to an interesting offer but now I have decided to carry on and see out my contract for three years."
But the Brazilian's statement was dismissed out of hand by Chelsea managing director Colin Hutchinson, who insisted that his club pulled out of the deal when Real raised their initial asking price of £9m.
Talking to London's Evening Standard, he explained: "The deal broke down last night and it was us who decided to pull out. We had agreed a fee of £9m for the player but then the new Real Madrid president Fiorentino Peres informed us that he wanted another $4m - more than £2m.
"That was unacceptable to us, especially as the player had appeared against Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League last week which if anything lowered his valuation to us because he would have been unable to play for us in the Uefa Cup this season."
Hutchinson also had words of support for Panucci. When asked if the defender had urged Savio to stay away from the Bridge, Hutchison said: "The opposite is true. Christian has in fact been trying to persuade Savio to come."
Nevertheless, the Italian's commitment to the Chelsea cause is sure to be questioned again. The former Internazionale player reportedly did not want to come to the club because he considered it "too small", and was involved in a very public on-field row with team-mate Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink during Chelsea's home defeat at the hands of Leicester on Sunday.
