Chelsea line up Mattia Destro if Fernando Torres seals escape route to AC Milan

Chelsea will step up their chase for Mattia Destro if Fernando Torres leaves

Spain international is holding talks over personal terms with AC Milan

Jose Mourinho believes Mattia Destro can add variety to Blues attack 

Roma do not need to sell after £35m sale of Medhi Benatia to Bayern Munich 

Former Chelsea star Demba Ba has revealed he longed to play for Arsenal

Chelsea will step up their pursuit of Mattia Destro from Roma if Fernando Torres can agree personal terms on a move to AC Milan.

Jose Mourinho has identified Destro as a young player who can add variety to his squad, even though Roma have cooled on the idea of selling the striker.

The Italian club claim he is ‘100 per cent not for sale’ and no longer have a great urgency to raise funds after banking £35million by selling defender Medhi Benatia to Bayern Munich.

Chelsea, however, remain keen. Destro fits their age profile, can operate across the front line and earns a fraction of the £175,000 a week they pay Torres. If Milan agree to cover the final two years of Torres’ contract, Chelsea will have cash available to bid for a player valued at £20million. If they prefer to sign him on a one-year loan, Chelsea will have to be more creative.

 

Agents of Torres were in Italy for talks with Milan and one of them, Antonio Sanz, is reported to have said: ‘The meeting went well. Torres to AC Milan is a real possibility. We take some time to reflect before giving a decision. Milan are a great club.’

The issue is pressing for Chelsea at a time when they have concerns about the fitness of Diego Costa.

Costa missed training on Thursday as a precaution after suffering from a tight hamstring against Leicester on Saturday and again in training on Wednesday.

A scan showed no serious damage but the Brazil-born Spain international has a recent history of hamstring trouble. He has not been ruled out of Saturday's game at Everton but Mourinho will take no risks because Costa can take a two-week rest through the international break if he does not play at Goodison.

The scare crystallises a major problem for Chelsea, however, with Didier Drogba 36 and Torres out of favour.

Demba Ba, Romelu Lukaku and Samuel Eto’o have all left this summer and although they spent £32m on his first-choice Costa, Mourinho will look to the board to back him again over Destro. Ba, meanwhile, admits he longed to play for Arsenal.

Now with Besiktas, the striker came close to ruining Arsenal’s Champions League hopes during Wednesday’s 1-0 defeat at the Emirates.

Afterwards, Ba said he wished he could have been the man riding to Arsene Wenger’s rescue after Olivier Giroud’s broken ankle, but had to seize the chance to leave Chelsea for Besiktas when it came.

Wenger almost signed Ba on loan from Chelsea last year and, when asked how close he came to becoming an Arsenal player, the forward said: ‘As close as you and me, here. Even when I was in Chelsea, everybody knew that I wanted to go to Arsenal.

‘It’s not a secret to anyone. I wanted to join Arsenal because it was the club back in the day. I saw Thierry Henry playing for them and I supported them. I could have maybe waited longer in this transfer window.’