Struggling for fourth, scraping through to the last 8 in the Europa League and in the FA cup by the skin of their teeth: it's been a rather tough season for the reigning European champions. In Rafa Benitez, Chelsea have a manager they neither want or need given his past and his failure to get Fernando Torres scoring again. Abramovich's cavalier style with sacking managers caused uproar with fans when replacing Di Matteo with the Spaniard. With the considerable possibility of a trophy-less finish this season and no doubt another managerial change come the next transfer window, Abramovich needs to win back fans and trophies next season. A challenge he will solve just like any other, by opening his cheque book. But who could the West Londoners bring to Stamford Bridge in the summer to get Roman's Empire back to its best?
5. Radamel Falcao
The Colombian forward is the complete package, demonstrating during spells at both Porto and at current club Atletico Madrid that he has strength to go with a sublime touch, can strike the ball from distance as well as poach, as well as the ability to head the ball. With a hat trick against Chelsea in the European Super Cup in August, Falcao could be the striker that Fernando Torres has failed to be. He won't be cheap though, given his current form which has seen the Colombian net 29 goals this season for Atletico. Reports widely suggest it would take a bid in excess of £40 million to convince the Spanish club to give up their star striker, including the claim made by
Goal.com. Chelsea are one of the favourites to sign the star if he does choose to leave in the summer, as it is rumored that Falcao has a particular distaste for Real Madrid and would not be signing for them.