CHELSEA: Chelsea have agreed the loan signing of Radamel Falcao from Monaco in a move that has left Loic Remy considering his Stamford Bridge future.
Falcao will fill the space left by Didier Drogba as back-up to first?choice striker Diego Costa.
It is understood that Chelsea will pay a loan fee of around pounds 5?million for -Falcao with the option to buy him per-manently next summer for pounds 35?million. Monaco also hope to take some of the Stamford Bridge club's pro-mising young players on loan.
Falcao is in Chile for the Copa America with Colombia, but he is looking forward to returning to London as a Chelsea player even though he will take a substantial cut to his pounds 265,000-a-week wages at Monaco. His move has been sealed as Chelsea also prepare a bid for Stoke City goalkeeper Asmir Begovic after making the Bosnian their top choice to replace Petr Cech.
Remy, meanwhile, faces an uncertain future. He had hoped Drogba's departure would improve his playing prospects for next season but the decision of Jose Mourinho, the Chelsea manager, to push through the signing of Falcao has arguably made competition even tougher.
Crystal Palace are interested in Remy, 28, and can offer him the chance to stay in London and reunite with Alan Pardew, under whom he worked at Newcastle United.
Remy earns around pounds 80,000 a week at Chelsea and there is optimism that Palace could offer him a competitive wage. But it remains to be seen how much the Blues would demand for Remy. Due to a clause in his Queens Park Rangers contract, Chelsea signed Remy for pounds 10.5?million and Mourinho would ideally like to keep him at the club. The Frenchman scored seven Premier League goals in just six starts last season, including crucial goals against Hull City and Stoke City.
Chelsea could, therefore, demand anywhere between pounds 15?million and pounds 20?million for Remy, which would create a stumbling block for Palace.
There is also interest from Bordeaux and Lyon, whose 21-year-old defender, Samuel Umtiti, has hit the radar of Chelsea, along with those of Liverpool and Arsenal. Umtiti can play as a central defender or as a left-back, which, with Filipe Luis hoping to return to Atletico Madrid, could be attractive to Chelsea.
Mourinho's preferred option is to sign the more experienced 30?year-old Joao Miranda from Atletico, but Chelsea face competition for him from Manchester United.
Sanctioning Remy's sale would give Mourinho a major headache in terms of trying to fill the third space in his squad for a forward. Chelsea are interested in Atletico's Antoine Griezmann, who can play anywhere across a front three and could fill in as a main striker if needed. QPR's Charlie Austin would be another option, but he would be wary of joining the Blues as third choice - particularly as there is also strong interest from Newcastle and Southampton.
Patrick Bamford has spoken of his desire to be given a first-team chance at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea appear more likely to loan him to a Premier League club next season.
Juventus, the Champions League runners-up, remain interested in Chelsea midfielder Oscar, but their pounds 18?million valuation is likely to be far less than any figure that would make the Blues consider selling the Brazilian. Chelsea signed Oscar for pounds 25?million in 2012.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are intent on signing Begovic. Even if Stoke accept an offer, Chelsea will still have to convince Begovic that he will play enough games to make a move worthwhile as the 27-year-old does not want to spend the peak of his career on the substitutes' bench.
Chelsea will hold discussions with Cech over his future this week and are then planning to make a formal approach to Stoke over Begovic, who they will attempt to convince to battle for a place with Thibaut Courtois by offering a big pay rise.
Begovic has one year remaining on his Stoke contract, so Chelsea will not have to pay much more than pounds 8?million for him. That still represents good business for Chelsea as they expect to recoup at least pounds 10?million for Arsenal target Cech.
Mourinho has demanded that the club sign a top-quality replacement for Cech after being overruled in his bid to keep the 33-year-old or only sell him overseas.
The Blues have considered QPR's Rob Green, Fulham's Marcus Bettnelli and Getafe's Vicente Guaita for their deputy goalkeeping position, but Begovic is the favoured choice of Mourinho.
Begovic ticks the most boxes for Mourinho, as he has more than 100 games of Premier League experience, is a Bosnia international with 40 caps and is considered home grown under Premier League rules after first moving to England aged 16.
Begovic may well be reluctant to agree to a move to Chelsea early in the transfer window with the futures of so many goalkeepers both at home and abroad in doubt. There are foreign clubs interested in Begovic as well, with Roma particularly keen.
