Radamel Falcao has traveled back to Monaco this week as Chelsea look to cut
short his ill-fated loan deal and create space for a new striker.
Colombian striker Falcao is understood to have spent Tuesday and Wednesday at
Monaco’s training centre to have checks on his injured thigh.
Chelsea want to end Falcao’s season-long loan early, but Monaco want to be
sure of the 29-year-old’s fitness before taking him back after interim
manager Guus Hiddink last week revealed he had suffered another setback.
Falcao has been out with a thigh injury since October 31 and broke down again
in a training game at Chelsea’s Cobham training camp.
Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew are interested in signing Falcao, but
their season does not start until March.
Monaco, however, were keen to check on the condition of Falcao before
possibly taking him back until March or until the end of the season, when
they will look to sell him.
Falcao wants to play more regularly over the second half of the season, while
Monaco are aware they will struggle to sell him if he remains stuck on the
sidelines.
Despite managing to convince Falcao to take a 50 per cent wage cut to move to
Stamford Bridge, his season-long loan has already been an expensive failure
as he has only started one Premier League game and scored one goal in all
competitions.
Former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho hoped to get the best out of Falcao this
season, but with the Portuguese now gone the Blues are ready to cut their
losses.
Chelsea hope to free space in their squad and the club’s wage bill by ending
Falcao’s loan so they can push ahead with plans to sign a new striker this
month.
Leicester City striker Jamie Vardy is among Chelsea’s January targets, while
Jackson Martinez, who is out of favour at Atletico Madrid, is an attractive
loan option.
Chelsea would rather keep Loic Remy, who is a target for a number of clubs,
until the end of the season.
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