'£40m Becks for Chelsea'

Chelsea are poised to make a £40million bid to bring David Beckham back to the Premiership.

The club has made little secret of its desire to capture the England captain from Real Madrid.

And the possibility of his return escalated today after it was revealed he has told members of his inner circle he will be playing in England next season.

Reliable sources say it is now a "certainty" Beckham will leave Madrid in the next few months in a spectacular summer deal.

It has been a tumultuous year in Spain. Following allegations that Beckham had two affairs, and his wife Victoria's refusal to move to the Spanish capital, the player is ready to move for the sake of his family.

Already Britain's richest sportsman, it is believed Beckham will earn up to £100,000 a week at Stamford Bridge. He will continue to earn about £15 million a year from personal associations with 12 companies and his commercial standing has not been affected by the recent negative publicity.

His impending return is being discussed in the upper echelons of his business entourage.

The Evening Standard revealed two weeks ago that Chelsea were forging links with the Real midfielder. Even before stories about his private life broke, Victoria was allegedly telling close friends that her husband would be coming back to play in England after Euro 2004. Beckham has since denied this, stating he is happy in Madrid and intends to see out his fouryear deal at the Bernabeu.

Yet there are continuing, but unconfirmed reports that he met Chelsea's owner, Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, in a Madrid restaurant in the last week of February in a meeting organised by a close friend of Beckham.