Valdano told a Spanish radio station "Nothing could be further from the truth and Chelsea firstly said they were sorry and secondly withdrew their intention of holding a meeting with us, neither Monday nor later I hope.
"The situation is awkward because we don't like to see players in this type of situation but we are very calm because our position is solid from a legal point of view. "We know that clubs cannot contact players who have running contracts. Makelele is under contract until 2006, and so his professional situation is very clear."
What's the betting that it wasn't Ken Bates that allegedly 'apoligised' to Real? Still, whoever it was had to do something to keep the Madrid club sweet- how else are we going to sign Raul and Ronaldo in a £150 million swoop next summer?!?!?