One of the stranger things Chelsea supporters encounter on the internet is the idea that the club can simply sell players that they would like to be rid of. The target, in most of those cases, is Fernando Torres. 'Sell Torres for £20 million', the internet says, 'and then Chelsea can buy Cavani'.

As we found out with Florent Malouda, however, selling a player when they don't want to go can sometimes turn out badly. Does Torres want to go? Um:

I'm looking forward to the chance of working with Jose. It is the same every summer, there is talk and rumours every day. When I signed for Chelsea I signed for five-and-a-half years and I want to be there for all of that. -Source: Sky Sports.

So, for everyone shipping off Torres to Napoli and whatnot, here's a gentle reminder that he has three years left to run on a contract that pays him £1 million every six weeks. Few other teams on the planet can afford such figures; most of them have better options they can turn to at centre forward. Most clubs interested in Torres would force him to take a monumental paycut, something he'd only agree to if he was desperate to leave the club -- or the Blues contributed an enormous chunk of his salary, which would make selling him pointless. Look at the quote again. Does anyone see a hint of desperation there?

No matter whether or not you're a Torres fan, the club made an awful mistake when they committed £100 million to him in 2011. Now they're going to have to live with it. We can't just wave a magic wand and make the mess disappear.