Mourinho on Falcao: 'I have no striker, and he has no team'

Falcao moved to Monaco last summer despite long-standing interest from Chelsea, and reportedly only after being forced to agree a €60 million (£49.5 million) move by the company which own his registration rights.

The Colombian star, who is currently recovering from an injury that threatens to rule him out of the World Cup in Brazil, has reportedly been unhappy since his switch from Atletico Madrid - and it seems that Mourinho is ready to pounce.

"Me, I have no centre-forward, and him, he has no team," Mourinho told French TV show Canal Football Club.

The Blues boss went on to suggest that the famously dire atmosphere in Monaco's gloomy stadium - which is on top of a multi-storey car park, invariably 80 per cent empty and generally offering a poor playing surface - has been behind the star's poor form since his move to the Principality last summer.

"A player like him can't play in front of 3,000 people," Mourinho added. "Monaco is a club to end your career at."

The Portuguese manager shot down suggestions that Roman Abramovich could bankroll a huge move for another Ligue 1 star, Paris St Germain's Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"It’s impossible. He’s happy at Paris. I know because he is my friend and we are in touch," Mourinho said.

"PSG, with all its wealth, would never open the door. That’s mission impossible."

Mourinho gave a frank and lengthy interview to the show as part of a publicity appearance for a Swiss watch company - with other topics including his intention to "build the team around" Eden Hazard over the next decade.

But perhaps the most interesting comments of all came in unguarded moments caught on camera away from the formal interview.

AFP football writer Tom Williams and France's L'Equipe newspaper report that, when asked if Eto'o is recovering his best form, Mourinho's answer was scathing.

"No," he said. "He's 32. Maybe 35."

Eto'o, for the record, is 32, the same age as Ibrahimovic. But Mourinho's apparent ignorance of Eto'o's age and off-hand dismissal of his form, talent and future suggest that Chelsea believe him to be ripe for retirement.