Just how far will Roman Abramovich go to make Fernando Torres a Chelsea player?

Roman Abramovich is a man on a mission. Having personally targeted the pursuit of Fernando Torres, it would appear that the Russian billionaire is now determined to sign Torres before Monday's transfer deadline. 

A £35M bid has already been rejected for the Spanish international, and was apparently rejected instantly. Just how far will Abramovich and Chelsea have to go to get their man?

The main suggestion seems to be that the next offer tabled will likely be in the region of £40M, plus Daniel Sturridge. There is absolutely nothing to say that this will be accepted by Liverpool however who seem understandably reluctant to even consider selling what is one of their three prized assets along with Steven Gerrard and Jose Reina.

Perhaps more likely would be the suggestion that Liverpool would demand that Chelsea don't just surpass but utterly smash the British transfer record by insisting on a figure closer to £60M. By demanding such a figure Liverpool could legitimately insist to Torres that the ball, and his future, was in the hands of Chelsea and that it would be up to Roman Abramovich to meet their demands.

But would Abramovich commit this much money? Everyone knows after the Andriy Shevchenko debacle the Chelsea Owner has been reluctant to spend so much on an individual player. But unlike Shevchenko, Torres is young and proven in the Premiership, something Liverpool will of course be pointing out if they do demand what would be an incredible amount of money.

There is of course the possibility that things won't go that far. That Liverpool will recognise having a star player who doesn't want to be at the club would do more damage than having Torres play and be taunted by his own fans. Yet it will be interesting to see how high the stakes are raised - and just how far Roman Abramovich is willing to go to land what would be a truly spectacular transfer.