Chelsea are confident they have won the £52m race for Colombian star Radamel Falcao.
The 26-year-old Atletico Madrid striker is regarded as one of the hottest properties in European football after his exploits with the Spanish club.
He scored 36 goals for Atletico last season and helped them win the Europa League.
And he made Chelsea aware of his threat with a hat-trick against them as Atletico won the UEFA Supercup earlier this season.
He has a buy-out clause of £52m in the contract he signed when he came to Madrid from Porto last year – and Chelsea are willing to meet that price.
Chelsea would ideally like to sign Falcao in next month’s transfer window.
Caretaker manager Rafa Benitez will lose Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool in a £12 million deal – that will further stretch the front line resources at Stamford Bridge. The arrival of Falcao would ease the burden on Fernando Torres who remains the only proven striker at the club.
Benitez has not given up hope of winning the Premier League.
Victories against Aston Villa – beaten 8-0 at Stamford Bridge – and Norwich have taken Chelsea closer to second-placed Manchester City, with a game in hand.
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan have also been linked with Falcao, but Chelsea’s trump card would be the wages in excess of £150,000 a week that they can offer in a four-year deal.
A bargaining tool for Chelsea could be goalie Thibaut Courtois.
The 20-year-old was signed by Chelsea from Belgian club Genk for £5m last year and immediately loaned out to Atletico.
Atletico may ask for him as part of any deal involving Falcao – with Courtois valued at £10m.
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Source: SundayMirror
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