Fernando Torres is to be offered for free around Premier League clubs this January – only four years after costing a British record £50m.
Milan are seeking to cancel the Spaniard’s two-year loan deal agreed with Chelsea in August.
But Jose Mourinho does not need another striker after signing Diego Costa, Didier Drogba and Loic Remy in the summer.
And Torres’ former club Atletico Madrid have turned down the chance to take him back on loan in a swap deal which would have sent Italy winger Alessio Cerci to the San Siro.
So the ex-Liverpool forward, now 30, is facing the embarrassment of looking for another loan club to continue an injury-blighted career which has struggled ever since his staggering move to Chelsea in January 2011 on a day of deadline deals which saw the arrival of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez at Anfield.
Torres was adored at Liverpool and he scored the winning goal for Spain in a man-of-the-match performance in the Euro 2008 final – and appeared as a sub in the 2010 World Cup final.