Porto’s Radamel Falcao close to Chelsea switch – reports

Porto striker Radamel Falcao could follow his former manager Andre Villas-Boas to Chelsea this summer, according to reports.

The prolific Colombian forward, who scored 39 goals for Porto last season, has been heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge after impressing during his two years at the Estádio do Dragão.

And the Blues are willing to offer the striker an annual salary of £5m, with a deal already agreed in principal, according to Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha.

“I am leaving things up to my agent,” Falcao is quoted as saying by the Daily Star. “I am very calm about the situation but I know there has been some movement.

“My ambition is to keep working hard and I am convinced I can play in a superior league like England. If Chelsea is interested in me then all that needs to happen is for negotiations to take place.”

Falcao is understood to have a £28m release clause in his contract and Porto president Jorge Pinto da Costa insists the club will not let the 25-year-old striker leave for anything less than that amount.

“If there are termination clauses we have to prepare for the possibility that a player will leave at the value set out,” he said. “But I am not going to negotiate that price with anyone.”

Falcao scored 17 goals in the Europa League last season, surpassing Jurgen Klinsmann’s tally of 15 goals for Bayern Munich in the Uefa Cup set in the 1995-96 season.