Chelsea are stepping up their bid to sign Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao after agreeing to sell Daniel Sturridge to Liverpool.

Standard Sport revealed earlier this month that Sturridge would join Brendan Rodgers’s side next month after making it clear that a move to Anfield was his only choice.

Chelsea will reinvest the funds from his £12million transfer as part of a spending spree on at least three players during the transfer window, with Falcao their main target.

Club officials have already been to Madrid to open negotiations with Atletico, who would prefer to sell him to Chelsea rather than fierce rivals Real Madrid.

Chelsea are favourites for Falcao’s signature and owner Roman Abramovich is prepared to pay the £48m release clause in his contract as well as give him a salary that matches that of Fernando Torres’s £175,000 a week.

It has been reported in Spain that Abramovich also intends to fly the Colombia international to London to have a tour of the city and the club’s training facilities to help convince him to make the move to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea turned down the chance to sign Falcao in the summer when they decided to make Torres their No1 striker and ensure there was little competition for his place. But that decision has backfired, with the Spaniard failing to deliver in key matches in the Champions League and Premier League this season.

The club always planned to sign at least one forward in January because of the lack of strength in depth up front and Sturridge’s desire to quit Stamford Bridge. Other options have been looked at, just in case the deal for Falcao falls through.

Manchester City and Paris St Germain are also in the hunt for the player but Atletico, second in La Liga, are determined to resist offers next month while the player himself is believed to want to stay until the end of the season.

Gonzalo Higuain, Edinson Cavani, Theo Walcott, Loic Remy, Andre Schurrle and Demba Ba have all been monitored by Chelsea over the past 12 months.

Chelsea are unwilling to off-load Sturridge until they find a replacement.Sturridge, who joined from Manchester City for £6.5m in 2009, has scored 24 goals in 96 appearances for Chelsea, but nearly half of those have been as a substitute and he has rarely played in his favoured position as a centre-forward.