Carlo Ancelotti has insisted that he did not wish to cause embarrassment to Chelsea over his reported claims that he has been offered the chance to sign Fernando Torres at his new club Paris St-Germain.

The manager, who was dismissed by Chelsea at the end of last season, has the wealth of PSG's Qatari backers at his disposal and he stands to be a serious player in the winter transfer market. Agents across Europe have that sense and they have bombarded him with proposals, with some fixers telling him that they could get Torres for him, if he so wished.

It is doubtful that Ancelotti would want to be reunited the striker who struggled so badly under him at Stamford Bridge over the second half of last season, following his £50m arrival from Liverpool.

The suggestion that Torres is being hawked around the market does not bother the hierarchy at Chelsea as they are reassured that the overtures have not come from Antonio Sanz, the player's official agent. The club continue to insist that, despite his poor goals return, Torres is not for sale, and the absence of Didier Drogba at the African Cup of Nations, possibly until the middle of February, would appear to make Torres's departure this month even less likely.

It is difficult, though, to second-guess how Chelsea would react if an enormous offer were to come in for Torres.

"I have received hundreds of phone calls from agents offering me players ever since I signed with PSG," Ancelotti said. "They have offered me some incredible names. Players who have just signed spectacular contracts elsewhere. They all want to come here. There's the city of Paris, there's money and there's a coach with a good reputation."

Ancelotti has not tended to talk publicly about other clubs' players and he has indicated to Chelsea that he did not do so about Torres.

The Italian did admit he had hoped to return to management with Tottenham Hotspur or Arsenal at the end of the current season, after the break of a year. He had been touted as the potential successor to Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, in the event of Redknapp taking over the England team after Euro 2012 from Fabio Capello. But Ancelotti grew restless.

"I was keen on a year-long sabbatical, hoping that in the summer a job like Tottenham or Arsenal – a top London bench – would become available, but I was tired of not working," he said.