Jose: I’ll lift Falcao from nightmare at United

BOSS WANTS TO GIVE STAR NEW LEASE OF LIFE AT CHELSEA FOLLOWING NIGHTMARE AT UNITED

CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho has admitted his desire to get Radamel Falcao “firing again”, as talks continue over a possible loan move for the Colombia forward.

Manchester United decided not to take up an option to sign Falcao permanently after he failed to impress at Old Trafford last season, scoring just four goals in 26 League appearances.

That poor scoring record has not deterred Mourinho, however. He is keen to bolster his attack and believes the 29-year-old Monaco striker has more to offer in the Premier League.

Standard Sport understands that any agreement is subject to Falcao lowering his wage demands. United covered the entirety of his £265,000-a-week salary but Chelsea have indicated they are unwilling to match those figures and will not offer more than the £200,000 a week Eden Hazard takes home as the club’s current highest earner.

Falcao’s reputation suffered as he struggled to hold down a regular firstteam place at United but Mourinho told DirecTV Sports last night: “If I can help Falcao reach his level again, I will do it. It hurts me that people in England think that the real Falcao is the one we saw at Manchester United.”

Falc ao is in Chile with Colombia ahead of the Copa America, which starts on Friday, but the fact the player’s agent, Jorge Mendes, also represents Mourinho should help put Chelsea in the driving seat to complete a deal.

Mourinho may have to make room in his 25-man League squad for Falcao but the Portuguese insists Juan Cuadrado will not be sacrificed, despite a disappointing first five months at the club.

The winger made just four League starts following his £26.3million move from Fiorentina in January and Standard Sport reported last week he was due to hold talks with Chelsea over his future, with Inter Milan and Roma monitoring the situation.

However, the Blues want to give Cuadrado more time to adapt to English football, with Mourinho saying: “He is going nowhere this summer.”

Atletico Madrid, meanwhile, have declared their interest in re-signing Filipe Luis from Chelsea.

The defender turned down an approach from Real Madrid earlier this month, indicating that he would only return to Spain to rejoin Atletico, where he spent four years before moving to London in a £15.8m deal last summer.

Mourinho’s preference for Cesar Azpilicueta at left-back restricted Luis to nine League starts and Atletico hope to capitalise on the situation, especially given he was a first-team regular at the Vicente Calderon Stadium.

Atletico manager Diego Simeone said: “He’s a player we’re very fond of and he knows us well and gave so much to the team. I hope this one comes off.”