Real Madrid set to hijack Chelsea move for Inter Milan ace - reports

Real Madrid have stepped up their interest in Chelsea target Maicon, according to reports in the Italian media.

It had been suggested that Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo would swoop for the Inter Milan and Brazil star as he begins to make changes to his squad.

But Mediaset have claimed that Jose Mourinho is ready to raid his former club for the full-back, 31, who is moving into the last year of his contract, and beat the Blues to the punch.

A fee of around €8million would appear to be enough to convince the Nerazzurri to sell.

The Serie A giants are currently clearing out their squad with Diego Forlan and Lucio already moving to Internacional and Juventus respectively.