Porto's Falcao begs Andre Villas-Boas: come and get me

Posted Thursday, June 23, 2011 by Dailystar.co.uk

Porto's Falcao begs Andre Villas-Boas: come and get me
ABOVE: Falcao is the number one target for Andre Villas-Boas

PORTO’S £25m hitman Falcao last night pleaded with new Chelsea boss Andre Villas-Boas: Take me with you to England.

Falcao is the number one target for Andre Villas-Boas as he plans an overhaul of Chelsea.

And the Colombian striker opened the way for a move by admitting at the Copa America: “I am leaving things up to my agent. 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 has a £25m buy-out clause in his contract which could trigger a move to Chelsea.

He has scored 73 goals in 85 appearances for Porto, the club Villas-Boas has left for Stamford Bridge after Roman Abramovich paid a £13.2m compensation package.

Villas-Boas also wants a new right-back and plans to move for Barcelona’s superstar Dani Alves.

It will be tough to prise the Brazilian away from the Nou Camp after he signed a new long-term deal last season. Chelsea could be tempted to use defender David Luiz as part of the deal with the European and Spanish champions targeting the Brazilian for an estimated £27m.

Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o is already on Villas-Boas’s wish list, as revealed by Starsport yesterday, as well as Porto playmaker Joao Moutin- ho, but Falcao is his top target.

But Chelsea could lose out in the race to sign long-term target Neymar, with the Brazilian wonderkid on the verge of signing for Real Madrid.

For the time being, though, Chelsea were just delighted to be able to unveil their new manager, who admitted it was a challenge he could not resist despite having only two years’ experience in management.

He has already spoken by phone to skipper John Terry, who gave him his seal of approval after the pair had worked together for three years when the new boss was part of Jose Mourinho’s backroom staff.

Chelsea said Villas-Boas was the “outstanding candidate”. Mind you, that was the term they used about Big Phil Scolari, who was sacked six months later.

The club said: “He is one of the most talented young managers in football and has achieved much in a relatively short space of time.

“His ambition, drive and determination matches that of Chelsea and we are confident Andre’s leadership of the team will result in greater successes in domestic and European competitions.

“Andre will bring his coaching experience back to a club he is familiar with, having previously worked here for three years.

“He has always been highly regarded at Chelsea and everyone here looks forward to welcoming him back and working with him. He was the outstanding candidate for the job.”