Demba Ba: Fernando Torres is still the main man at Chelsea

Demba Ba has insisted Fernando Torres is still “the main man” at Chelsea despite the Blues’ new signing scoring a brace on his debut against Southampton in the FA Cup third round.

The 27-year-old completed a £7.5m switch from the Magpies to the Champions League winners on Friday, ending months of speculation surrounding the striker’s future at St James’ Park.

Torres has struggled at Chelsea since completing a £50m move from Liverpool in January 2011, but the Spaniard has rediscovered some resemblance of form with 14 goals in all competitions.

And Ba reiterated he is not at Chelsea to usurp Torres, but instead, the African wants to learn from the former Atletico Madrid captain.

“I’m just here to help the team, it’s not about taking the position of someone,” Ba told the Evening Standard.

“I know Fernando is the main man. I just came here to learn from people. His history is much better than mine and I will learn a lot from him. These guys have won Champions Leagues, World Cups, European Championships. These are the people you learn from.

“When you play for a team like Chelsea, you always have possession of the ball. At Newcastle we went straight forward but here there is a lot of passes and you have to be patient.

“Yes, I have to learn to time my runs better. In the next few weeks I will have to learn about my team-mates to get better and better. There is a lot more to come from me especially when you’re at a club like Chelsea and surrounded by big players like this squad has. It’s going to be good.”