Chelsea have been given a ray of hope, as one of their prime summer targets – Radamel Falcao, has declared that there has been no deal agreed between him and FC Monaco as speculated in the European media.

Falcao is one of the world’s finest strikers, plying his trade at Atletico Madrid, and the continent’s elite clubs have been fighting it out for his signature. While his name was always on the radar of the biggest clubs, the Colombian made a big impression on Roman Abramovich when he scored a hat-trick against Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup final earlier this season.

The two problems faced by interested clubs are firstly Falcao’s release clause in his contract, which is a sizable amount and secondly, Falcao is another player involved in 3rd party ownership, where another sports investment company has majority rights for the player. So, a party interested in the striker, not only have to clear the contract release clause, but also buy the rights from the 3rd party which considerably increases the fee.

While this complication seemed to put Abramovich off, FC Monaco were rumored to be the club where Falcao would ultimately sign, but this recent revelation has alerted Chelsea. Monaco, a French side, currently sit on top of the French Ligue 2, and their owner Dmitry Rybolovlev has plans to have his side challenge the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Marseille in the Ligue 1. Rybolovlev had reportedly struck a deal for the striker, and was ready to take responsibility of all the expenses the transfer fee included.

According to Sky Sports, Falcao has surprisingly denied any association with Monaco.

He said, “I don’t know anything, and the only thing that I have in my mind and keep concentration is on Atletico Madrid.”

“I don’t know anything. I keep myself apart of what is being said. If it was for the press, I have already been transferred to all the teams in Europe, like Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United.”

“I don’t find true any news that is being said about me”.

He concluded: “The only real thing is that I am under contract until 2016, all the rest is only speculation. I don’t know anything about Monaco. I have my mind focused where I am.”

This could mean that Chelsea still have a chance of getting the striker, or Falcao is just keeping a pre-contract with Monaco under the wraps to avoid media distraction ahead of the remaining games in La Liga.