Chelsea face a staggering £10million bill to get Fernando Torres out of Stamford Bridge as the forward prepares to dig in over his £175,000-a-week contract.
Manager Jose Mourinho has made it clear Torres has no future at Chelsea and questioned whether he is ‘a real striker’ following the 3-1 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday. Torres, 30, has two years left on his lucrative contract.
The Spain striker will not
be able to command £175,000 a week anywhere else after a disastrous spell in London, but wants to be compensated for taking a lower salary elsewhere.
Mourinho is furious with his attitude, which is believed to be linked with the departure of Juan Mata in January.
Mata, who joined Manchester United in the last transfer window, is a close friend of the Chelsea forward and a fellow Spaniard. Mourinho has suggested Torres does not ‘associate’ with the other players at Chelsea.
Although Torres scored 23 goals last season and won the Europa League under Rafa Benitez, he has hit the target only twice since Mata’s departure.
But the striker will not be forced out until he has an agreement over his contract. After two-and-a-half years in the English capital, his family have settled despite initial problems when he arrived from Liverpool in 2011.
Chelsea have already conceded they will not be able to command a big transfer fee, but the exit negotiations are now fraught with difficulties.
Roman Abramovich paid Liverpool £50m for Torres, who was earning £140,000 a week at Anfield, when Carlo Ancelotti was manager.
Mourinho has already lined up Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa as one summer target this summer.– Daily Mail