Torres' form has not improved consistently this season, despite Chelsea's strong start, and he has continued to cut a disconsolate figure at times — not least when Falcao was scoring a hat-trick for Atlético against Chelsea in the European Super Cup in August.
Falcao was only signed by Atlético from the Portuguese champions Porto in the summer of 2011, for around £35m, and there is confusion as to whether there is a third-party ownership involved in the player which is affecting his transfer value.
Andre Villas-Boas had wanted to take Falcao with him to Stamford Bridge from Porto and lobbied hard for Roman Abramovich to sanction the deal but it was vetoed by the Russian billionaire who insisted that Torres would be given the chance to be first-choice. In the end, the Spaniard lost out to Dider Drogba who has since left Chelsea.
Atlético have already admitted that selling Falcao would alleviate their financial problems — but insist that the striker will not be allowed to leave in January. A move then, to either Chelsea or Real, would appear unlikely but that resolve will possibly be tested.
Big-spending Russian clubs including Zenit St Petersburg — who bought Falcao's former Porto team-mate Hulk last summer after failing in a bid for Falcao — and Anzhi Makhachkala also remain interested and would pay more money but the player would prefer to stay in Spain or move to England.
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