Chelsea have made a formal bid to sign Brazil [Images] striker Robinho from Real Madrid [Images].

"Further to media reports Chelsea Football Club can confirm we have made an offer to Real Madrid today for the transfer of Robinho," the Premier League club said in a brief statement on its website.

No mention was made of the size of the bid but British media reports said Luiz Felipe Scolari's [Images] team had offered to pay 19.7 million pounds ($38.45 million) for Robinho.

Scolari, who took over as coach last month, is in desperate need of a striker as he prepares for the opening Premier League game of the season at home to Portsmouth on August 17.

Didier Drogba [Images] will miss the opening two games of the campaign because of a knee injury while fellow Ivory Coast striker Salomon Kalou is on Olympic [Images] duty in Beijing [Images].

That leaves Chelsea with only Nicolas Anelka [Images], Andriy Shevchenko and out-of-favour Claudio Pizarro to call upon in attack.

Robinho has been a target for the London [Images] club throughout the close season.