<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2323290/Radamel-Falcao-latest-Monaco-set-beat-Chelsea-striker.html>

Chelsea's pursuit of Radamel Falcao appears to have been foiled by ambitious Monaco owner Dmitry Rybolovlev.

He has agreed a £50million deal to bring the Colombian Atletico Madrid striker to France, according to the Sunday Times. The deal will see Falcao, 27, paid an eye-watering £8.2m a year after tax.

Who is Rybolovlev? A Russian businessman and investor who owns Monaco. He was ranked 199th in the Forbes billionaires list in 2012. Rybolovlev took over Monaco in December 2011, and wants Monaco to usurp Paris Saint-German as Ligue 1 winners and then win the Champions League.

His side were relegated in 2011 and will return to France's top flight next season.

Falcao's contract with Monaco will include an escape clause that allows him to leave after just one year - giving him the chance to join Atletico's rivals Real Madrid.

Chelsea were torn apart by Falcao during the Super Cup earlier this season, the forward bagging a hat-trick as the Spanish side ran out 4-1 winners.

Chelsea's own Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich was hoping to bring him to Chelsea but was unwilling to pay the whole of the Colombian's release fee.

??? Who the hell saw this coming?

And the Sunday Times is a very reputable newspaper, just in case anyone's wondering...

Great! :) I saw Lewa joining us in my dream last night, I hope it comes true since Mourinho wants him too :)

@malden I said it a lot of times, Falcao is a great player but he is 27 years old and paying his wage and transfer fee is just ridiculous for his age. There are a lot of young and good strikers for half his transfer fee and wage.