Friday 29 August 2014 19:44, UK
Jose Mourinho says Fernando Torres is part of his plans at Chelsea and that the striker has not told him he wants to leave.
Torres has been linked with several clubs over the summer, and AC Milan are understood to have agreed a fee with the Blues for the Spaniard as they seek replacement for Mario Balotelli after his move to Liverpool.
But Mourinho says he will need the 30-year-old to play a part in the Blues’ bid for trophies this season and would be reluctant to sell him so late in the summer transfer window.
"What we have clear is that we need three strikers to face the season,” said Mourinho. “He is one of them.
"I like him as a person. I like him as a player. If he wants to leave it is something he didn't say to me. At the moment he is our player, nothing more than that.
"If he wants to leave I believe it is because he wants to try a new life, a new club, a new league. If he wants to leave I believe it is to try and be happier than he was in the last couple of years.
“This is a very human club in the way it tries to approach these situations. If he comes to us then any possibility will be analysed.”
The current transfer window is due to close on September 1, which would limit the amount of time available to Mourinho to source and sign a replacement if he did allow Torres to leave.
The Chelsea boss is happy with the squad he has in place and is making no plans to make any adjustments to it.
“If that happens in the last hour of the market then we are in trouble because at the moment we are doing nothing,” he said. “We believe that the market is closed for us and we like our squad. It is not the perfect one because not a single squad is.
“But at this moment we are ready for the market to close and for us to start on September 1 with the squad we have at this time.”
Torres could be in the frame to play at Everton on Saturday, although an injury scare will not prevent Diego Costa making the trip to Goodison Park as part of the squad.
Watch Everton v Chelsea live on Sky Sports 1 this Saturday. Coverage begins at 4.45pm
