It has been reported by ESPN that Chelsea are holding off on making a formal approach for Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao due to Fernando Torres’s recent upturn in form. Most recent reports had suggested the club had stepped up their interest in Falcao, even going so far as to send a negotiator to Madrid to help conclude the deal. However, the initial signs of a revival of form for Fernando Torres may possibly have calmed the west London club’s advances.

Chelsea are believed to be keen to add strength to their forward line in January, but if Torres can continue to show signs of improvement, the Spanish striker has scored 4 goals in the last 2 games, they will reconsider the purchase of Falcao.

Torres has not only scored more goals recently but, beyond that, his general striking performances have also improved dramatically under Benitez with the result that he is now getting himself in goal scoring positions more than twice as frequently and is showing an ability to take better advantage of those chances than under Di Matteo.

Before the arrival of Rafa, Torres was shooting at goal every 51 minutes - that figure is down to 22 minutes under Benitez. His shooting accuracy has also taken a sudden turn in the right direction, with his success rate up to 80% under Rafa, from 63% under Di Matteo. The reports suggest that Roman Abramovich will not sanction the purchase of Falcao from Atletico Madrid if Torres can maintain a continued improvement that the club feel will last through to the end of the season.

Falcao has a minimum fee release clause of €60 million and Abramovich may be reluctant to meet this if he feels Torres has the ability to lead the line himself. A more desirable option could be Demba Ba from Newcastle, who has the far more palatable release clause of €8.7 million written into his contract. Real Madrid’s Gonazalo Higuain is also reported to be a target for Chelsea, at a price of roughly €25 million, but it is unlikely the Argentinean would be happy to move to a club where he is not guaranteed to be the first choice striker.

Falcao scored 5 goals in last night’s La Liga game between Atletico Madrid and Deportivo La Coruna, putting him on 16 league goals for the year- 7 behind Lionel Messi of Barcelona, but 3 ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid.