Fernando Torres' switch to AC Milan sealed
Chelsea striker's loan move to the Italian side set to become permanent and return to former club Atletico Madrid is also mooted
Spain striker Fernando Torres will join AC Milan permanently from Chelsea after the new year, the English Premier League leaders have confirmed.
The news came several hours after Spanish media reports claimed the former Liverpool forward would be returning to his first club Atletico Madrid.
The 30-year-old had joined Milan on a two-year loan at the beginning of this season.
[Torres] will be a very important reinforcement for the second half of the season. We will get the best out of him ... and he knows where he is coming to
He won the Champions League, the Europa League and the FA Cup in three-and-a-half years at Stamford Bridge, but never lived up to goal-scoring expectations after a £50 million (HK$603 million) transfer from Liverpool.
Torres would join Milan permanently next Monday, Chelsea said. The deal does not rule out a return to Atletico in the upcoming transfer window, though.
The Spanish champions have indicated they do not have the funds for a permanent deal themselves, but may yet sign him on another loan deal from Milan once he has left Chelsea. In fact, sports newspapers such as Marca and AS and daily El Pais had said Torres' move back to Atletico was decided after the Madrid club's Italian player Alessio Cerci agreed to go to Milan in return.
"He will be a very important reinforcement for the second half of the season," Atletico assistant boss German Burgos said. "We will get the best out of him ... and he knows where he is coming to."