Chelsea have tabled an opening £40 million bid for unsettled Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. The Daily Mail says Roman Abramovich is ready to back manager Carlo Ancelotti all the way in his pursuit of his top summer target.
Indeed, the billionaire owner is ready to part with anything up to £70m for such a 'marquee signing'.
New Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has already admitted he can offer no guarantee that either Torres or skipper Steven Gerrard will be at Anfield next season. And given Liverpool's precarious financial situation, a concerted effort to sign Torres by Chelsea is likely to prove impossible to resist.
