Chelsea are confident of securing a deal in the region of £46 million for Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao this summer.

The Blues have been chasing the Colombian international for some months, and now believe they are close to completing the move, according to the Daily Mail, who also report that the club have turned down the opportunity to bid for Napoli striker Edison Cavani.

Meanwhile, the Express report that Bayern Munich’s Mario Gomez has been lined-up as an alternative should the deal for Falcao break down.

The German international has struggled to hold down a first team place at the Allianz Arena, largely due to form of Mario Mandzukic, though he did score in Bayern’s 4-0 thumping of Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final first leg last night.

Bayer Leverkusen forward Andre Schurrle is also expected to complete a move to Stamford Bridge, after representatives of the Bundesliga club flew to London last week to finalise a deal.

Elsewhere, defensive due Ashley Cole and Gary Cahill have returned to the first team squad for tomorrow evening’s Europa League semi-final first leg with FC Basel.

Both have missed the best part of four weeks, but were been passed fit in time to fly to Switzerland this morning.