Jose Mourinho has revealed he already has replacements lined up for Fernando Torres as the Spaniard's Chelsea nightmare comes to an end.
Torres is keen to make the move to Italy after struggling to justify his £50million record price-tag since moving from Liverpool in January 2011.
Mourinho tonight revealed he will be signing another striker should Torres’ move to go through as he wants to operate with three forwards in his squad this term.
Mattia Destro and QPR’s Loic Remy have both been touted as possible arrivals at the Bridge and the Blues chief is on transfer red alert as he lines up another swoop.
“We have our ideas [for a replacement] and we have our contacts,” Mourinho said.
“We’ll try to make the best possible deal for us. We have to imagine the situation [that Torres will join Milan]. We have to anticipate the situation.
“Obviously we know that AC Milan and the agents, we know about the contacts, and a big club like AC Milan is not doing contacts behind Chelsea's back. No way. Milan doesn’t behave that way, so obviously we know [what is happening].
Chelsea need to remove one foreign player from their squad to conform to Premier League and Champions League rules.
They are allowed 17 foreign players over the age of 21 in their squads that are registered once the transfer window shuts at the end of the month.
Torres’ departure allows them to comply but another body will have to leave the Bridge as Mourinho sees no value in the home grown market and is looking to add another foreign face.
“If we have to react to Fernando’s departure we are going to react to a foreign striker,” he said.
“I don’t see in the market an English striker that would come to us or the club would let him come to us. If we lose a foreign striker we will get another foreign striker.”
Torres managed just 45 goals in 172 appearances for Chelsea, equating to a staggering £1.1million per strike, and has been in decline ever since he joined from Liverpool.
But despite the poor performances on the pitch, Mourinho does not think Torres has been unhappy during his time at the Bridge.
“I don’t think a sad person can work the way he [Torres] does,” Mourinho explained.
“He works so hard and is so professional. He is so stable in his personal life that I don’t see a sad man. When I speak about happiness, maybe it is about football happiness.
“Not the need to feel pressure. All the eyes are on him. Big transfer fee. Probably a move would create for him a different start. A restart. He won a few things here and scored a few goals though.”
Meanwhile, Mourinho insists Petr Cech still hasn’t asked to leave despite the emergence of Thibaut Courtois’ emergence as the club’s new number one keeper.
