The official reason, the Blues insisted, was an ankle injury.

Adding confusion to his status at Stamford Bridge was another report. The Guardian claimed that the omission was a challenge by his manager.

Jose Mourinho believes that he will respond in one of two ways:

Push himself to prove Mourinho wrong, in which case he will be available for selection again. Or sulk, making it easier to leave him out and, ultimately, move him to another club.

The pair's relationship has been fragile since April.

Then, Mourinho expected the midfielder to be available for the Champions League semi-final with Liverpool.

But, without informing the manager, he had surgery to remove a piece of bone from his ankle.

Mourinho was angry enough to call for his contract to be cancelled.

Over the close season, he made it clear that Ballack, 30, is last in line for a place in his revamped midfield four.

So, having defended the player for the majority of a problematic first season in English football, he was prepared to offload him to Real in the summer transfer window.

According to Real coach Bernd Schuster, that move hit a wall because of Ballack's £121,000 (S$373,000) weekly wages, and his representative's demands for a seven-figure agent's fee.

Chelsea have since said that they have no plans to sell Ballack.

But The People reported that he will sign on an £8million switch to the Bernabeu when the transfer window reopens - after agreeing on terms worth around £135,000 a week.

The news will come as a blow to Juventus, whom Italian newspapers suggested on Friday would move for the player at the turn of the year.