Chelsea's Falcao raid seemingly foiled by £50m Monaco mega-deal

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.

                          Top target: Radamel Falcao (left) seems poised to move to Monaco
Monaco owner Rybolovlev 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.

Destroyer: Chelsea were ripped to shreds by the Colombian in the Super Cup and wanted to buy him

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.