Fernando Torres would welcome Diego Costa to Chelsea

Fernando Torres has insisted that he would welcome Diego Costa at Chelsea, despite his compatriot's imminent arrival reducing his own chances of regular football.

Costa has already displaced Torres in the Spanish national team after switching allegiances from Brazil, and is likely to be first choice at Stamford Bridge should his £32m move from Atletico Madrid go through as expected.

However, Torres, who was a substitute in Spain's shocking 5-1 World Cup defeat to Netherlands, is at ease with the situation and has stressed that competition for places is essential at top clubs.

He told reporters: "The level of competition at big clubs should always be very high. People have been saying for some time that Chelsea have signed a striker, and if that's Diego then it's very welcome."

Torres, whose Chelsea future is far from certain amid reports suggesting that Jose Mourinho is willing to sell the hit-and-miss forward, scored five goals in 16 Premier League starts last season.