Rio de Janeiro, Jun 13 (IANS): Brazilian club Palmeiras expects to know by Friday if Chilean international playmaker Jorge Valdivia will remain at the club.

The 28-year-old told Chilean TV he was unlikely to remain in Brazil after he and his wife were briefly kidnapped and robbed in Sao Paulo last week.

Having travelled to Chile to recover from the incident last weekend, Valdivia arrived back in Sao Paulo Tuesday to negotiate his release, reported Xinhua.

But Palmeiras football manager Cesar Sampaio said the club had not given up hope of keeping the star midfielder.

The Brazil Serie A outfit has contracted a psychologist to counsel Valdivia and a 24-hour body guard to accompany his every move.

"We are going to give him all the support he needs because he has been understandably shaken by the incident," Sampaio said.

"We will do everything we can to convince him to stay but if he wants to leave we won't stand in his way. We will know by Friday what his decision will be."