Fernando Torres will stay and play, according to Jose Mourinho

When the squads were announced before Chelsea's game at Stamford Bridge on Saturday afternoon, more was made about one name missing from Jose Mourinho's team sheet than about the 18 players who were included in the squad. Naturally, Mourinho was asked about Fernando Torres and his future with the club after the 2-0 victory over Leicester City, especially in light of the rumors linking Torres to AC Milan this morning.

When asked about the future of our Spanish number nine, Mourinho was adamant that his future is at Chelsea, at least in terms of the 2014/15 season.

Mourinho dismisses chances of Fernando Torres leaving. "I want three strikers. He will play. A fantastic guy, fantastic professional."

— Joe Krishnan (@joekrishnan) August 23, 2014

Mourinho asked how Torres plays: "Score more goals than main striker... He will play."

— Miguel Delaney (@MiguelDelaney) August 23, 2014

While Mourinho isn't always 100% truthful when discussing transfer rumors with the media, it's hard to picture him being anything but truthful on this one. Chelsea really need at least three center forwards in the squad, especially given that one of the three happens to be my age, so unless the club brings in a center forward in the closing days of the window, they almost have to keep Torres around in case one of Didier Drogba or Diego Costa get injured.

That said, it's hard for me to picture Torres getting any sort of significant minutes unless an injury happens, as he's not going to have a chance to score goals while being left out of the 18-man squad.