Chelsea Transfer News: Blues Ready to Let Fernando Torres Leave for £20M

English Premier League heavyweights, Chelsea, will reportedly start listening to offers for the club's expensive but ultimately unsuccessful Spanish striker Fernando Torres, as soon as the transfer window opens next month.

The player, for whom the club paid a hefty £50 million and pays £150,000-a-week, has scored just thrice in the Premier League since he left league rivals Liverpool last January. Although his club did, previously, consider sending the out-of-form striker out on loan to help re-build his shattered confidence, it is now clear that Chelsea are prepared to part with the player on a permanent basis.

However, the London club will certainly have to take a huge monetary hit on the most expensive player in the history of English league football. They are reportedly ready to listen to any offer in the region of £20 million and a club willing to meet or even consider his salary demands.

Torres, 27, remained an unused substitute in his club's all-important league win against English table-toppers Manchester City... a fact, reports suggest, led to him remaining in the dug-out while fellow-substitutes, along with backroom staff, celebrated Frank Lampard's late winner from the penalty spot.

The Spaniard has had a poor run in front of goal since he arrived at Stamford Bridge, going 13 games without a goal. He finally got off the mark in a 3-0 win over West Ham last April. However, he then went another nine games without scoring, before finding the net against Manchester United in September. His see-saw season got worse, with a red card in the following game, against Swansea.

This season he has scored only four times in 11 starts; two of those four came in a game against Belgian club Genk, in the UEFA Champions League. Torres, at Chelsea, has failed to live up to the mark of an expensive player, according to a Daily Mail report.