Torres gets the goal against Chelsea
At around 9pm last night, to some LFC fans, the world turned with this announcement from the club.
“Fernando Torres tonight submitted a written transfer request, which has been rejected by Liverpool.
“Fernando is under a long-term contract and the Club expects him to honour the commitment he made to Liverpool FC and its supporters when he signed the agreement.”
Even to those fans who have been following the disastrous previous regime at Anfield in recent years will have seen this as a shock. While many clued up fans will have expected a potential departure in the summer, to hand in a transfer request would have been seen as a huge shock and betrayal. The fact it came hours after a fee was agreed over a substantial transfer in, signalling intent on behalf of the new owners, and the fact it was to Chelsea – a club hardly storming all around them was even worse.
The timing on Chelsea’s behalf is perfect. They do not want to enter a bidding war with other major Premier League and European clubs, and if they buy now, the deal will not come under the terms of UEFA’s financial fair play rules which will be monitoring revenue and debt for the three years from this summer.
Liverpool value the player at far more than the £40M quoted by Chelsea. In fact, a clause exists that is only active in the summer and if LFC fail to qualify for the Champions League, whereby £50M is enough to force LFC to have to sell.
If LFC were to take the money now it could have huge implications for our own Financial Fair Play rules in the future too.
So what happens now?
Chelsea will likely come in with an increased bid, but Chelsea are by no means certain to qualify for the Champions League themselves. Should Liverpool sell them a player who could help them achieve this aim, and possibly, maybe at LFC’s expense?
Should Liverpool sell him to a rival club, or keep him – even if he is angry, bitter and whiny for the rest of the season?
It’s a difficult one and we have sympathy for the new owners, who even after removing Hodgson still appear to be dealing with some of the huge problems left by Christian Purslow and Hicks and Gillett.
When Steven Gerrard flirted with Chelsea, twice, we felt at the time it was a scandal that the reds allowed him to remain Captain. But most fans hailed him when he decided to commit. The feeling in recent weeks has been a feel-good one for Liverpool fans. Looking better on the pitch, free of debt and the previous owners, and bringing in one of European Football’s most lethal strikers. This flirtation with Chelsea has come at precisely the wrong time for LFC fans, and Fernando will no doubt feel the backlash.
Sadly, it smacks of utter disrespect to Liverpool FC and it’s fans, and the vast majority of supporters are unlikely to forgive Fernando for this self-centred attack on the club.
Torres has been off colour for 18 months, but the fans have stuck by him and supported him. It appears that ultimately Torres is no different from the likes of Rooney, or Tevez, and a whole host of other players idolised by millions but none more so than themselves.
LFC fans have reason to be optimistic for the future. If Torres never plays for Liverpool again then I won’t be losing any sleep. Better players than Nando have left Liverpool and gone on to be replaced by even better players again.
Selling Fernando Torres now suits Chelsea and Torres himself. Keeping him until the summer suits Liverpool FC.
Strong leadership is needed from the Liverpool board and manager as they navigate through an exceptionally tricky period.
The problem is the Torres´ agent, the spanish fascist celebrity Jose Antonio Martin Peton. He´s always like crazy to transfer his players and take the 10% of the money.
Remember Alex Ferguson would not sell us one of their full backs after he was told to leave so why in mid season should we let Torres go to Chelsea. Let him stew just training only and not playing in the reserves and let him get bored, and if he does not like training only and stays away then we can save on his wages, and sell him in the summer for 50k.
As a lifelong reds supporter, and football fan it saddens me to see Liverpool as just mediocre. Torres has never shown an appetite for Liverpool. The same can be said for most of the current squad. I blame Raffa, he bought some mediocre players in his last year at the club, players who have NO passion for Liverpool and just are here for the money, yes just like Torres. At least 8 of the current first team just are not good enough, and yes that includes Gerrard too who is playing on bygone days. So good luck Kenny, try making it through till the end of the season with the dross youve been left with and then have one almighty clearout.
50MM for a player would couldn’t even make the Spanish team at the world cup?? Take the money and run! Can you seriously use his name in the same sentance as Kaka, Ronaldo, Messi?
Although brilliant when he first arrived, Nando has been injured or off form for months. How long can we wait for the petulant kid to perform?
I think this just shows how dumb Chelsea are.
However, having said that, I agree we should wait till summer and get a bidding war going. Hopefully he will get a goal or two between now and then so he can continue to fool everyone that he is worth that amount. And we should not sell him in the EPL either.
goodbye el sulcio lfc are bigger than any player especialy one who has not given his all whilst taking all!
lfc should not sell any player to their opponents in epl!!!we are a class act too so to come and put a price on our best player is a bit of a sour pill for me!!but i trust kenny to deal with it and whatever happens he goes or stays i will still be a liverpool fan till i die!!!!players can pledge their allegiance to a club and discover their hypocrite but the most genuine one is the fans who are the true reds!!!
Hey you, Nando!! No player is bigger than Liverpool Football Club..You will be forever forgotten but LFC will remain forever and ever and ever…You were nothing before you came to Liverpool..look at you today? Our great club made who you are today..So a lil respect from you will be very much appreciated..But if you want to leave for Chelsea, then good luck to your career which isn’t gonna last long..
Yes, nobody is bigger than Liverpool Football Club. But let me tell you, nobody forgets Kevin Keegan, Michael Owen or Ian Rush. They all left to go to “bigger/greener pastures,” (or a new challenge) yet we don’t forget them at all. A bit of forgiveness is what I hope for, even though I think his timing was bloody awful. I think his career has another 4-5 fantastic years, and hopefully they’ll be with us still… but I think we’ll probably sell him in the summer and get 2-3 really good players in return. A “Spurs” model is best for our future rather than relying on two players, right? DEPTH. Selling Torres will get us that. Point being, you are right… the club is bigger than him!
Fernando Torres had something special at this club and whatever happens now that unique bond is broken , time to take the 50m and move on , I’ve got every confidence in King Kenny to get the right players in to move us up to where we should be , thanks for the memories Nando but don’t expect the red carpet when you come back to play at Anfield .
I can’t wait to hear Torres’ comment(apology) on this betrayal deal if he doesn’t leave LFC.
just when things were starting to shine, someone has to come in and create bad vibrations for the club.
where’s the loyalty and commitment to the club that showed the world how lethal we has in front of goal, if he really is first class, which he hasn’t been for the past 2 years, there are millions of fans who are waiting for him to show his face
there are only three clubs who want torres and its chelsea,chelsea,chelsea. who else has got money like that. this might backfire on him.as there might be no more takers then he will have egg on his face. its all driven by money this nonsense. the agents have hidden agendas and pocket large sums for doing a little work.while us grunts work like dogs for little torres could earn probably another 100 grand at chelsea.
Let him sulk until the summer when we can start a biddng war. I don’t want him to end up at Chelsea morever it would give us time to find a replacement.
He’ll leave us high and dry should he depart now with only one start forward who has just joined us. I feel his so-called advisors and agent have been messing with his head by encouraging him to leave that will fill their own pockets.
its not the end of the world if he leaves. we are better off without him if he is going to sulk and spoil chemistry of team.then we can buy players who want to play for the reds,and start the rebuilding process with the cash we get. pity as i wanted to see how he would link up with saurez
I have heard rumours that Torres has fallen out with Gerrard. The two players body language on the pitch would support this claim. In the past, they would embrace each other after scoring – now, it’s more business-like. Regardless of the reasons, from a Liverpool perspective, it would make more sense to sell him in the summer. Hopefully it would spark a bidding war and give the club time to find a replacement. I would be sad to see him go, but a similar thing happened in 1987. After a mediocre season by Liverpool standards, Ian Rush was sold and Kenny purchased Beardsley and Barnes. I hope something similar happens this time!
For two years Torres has looked totally disinterested in playing. The sulks on his face during matches shows that he has no interest at all. Everytime he gets the slightest touch he always moans and will not get on with the game and show his skills. We have not had our money’s worse out of this player and it will be interesting to see if this turncoat starts putting himself about and dusting himself down and gets on with the game that we all know that he can play. If it turns out that he becomes outstanding all of a sudden and puts himself about then he has been having the whole of LFC and the supporters on with his mood swings. Grow up Torres, you will need to amongst the Chelsea Pensioners at CFC.
Do you think Torres has been deliberately playing poor to ensure we dont get in the Champions league places,thereby activating the clause in his contract that he could leave? I was always a bit scepticle of Broughtons involvement in LFC him being a Chelsea fan…there is a bad smell off this whole affair..the eleventh hour bid out of nowhere,swiftly followed by the transfer request. Seems like a lot of planning has gone into this. Did Nesv do this deal with Broughton before he gave them his backing in the takeover process?
I think perhaps that Torres wants to test Henry and Co. to see how much they want him around. This could be a ploy to an increased contract, just like Rooney did at United. It was hugely disappointing to read this news, but as the author of this well-written article points out, we have since forgiven (and worshipped) Gerrard since his flirtation with Chelsea. A written request could very much be an agent intervention… we are still yet to hear Fernando himself say to us what his feelings on the matter are, and until we do, I think we cannot make any assumptions about his intentions. Ultimately, I think selling him now would be a massive mistake for anything less than 50 mil. In the summer, we’d at least have time to buy 2 QUALITY players for that price… and that might actually be worth it.
Fernando Torress has been the best player I’ve ever known us to buy fans reactions to him leaving are ‘he’s a t***’ but the man has won the world cup he’s world class he deserves to be playing at the highest level and Liverpool is no longer the highest level. My hope is we keep him until for the rest of the season he see’s the light with Suarez and decides to stay he’s spent half of the last 18 months injured we can’t hold that against him if Liverpool finish the season with more bore-draws, away defeats and barely in the top half I’d say good luck to him trying a new club although I’d appreciate it if he choose one outside of England as we don’t want to be facing him twice a season.
For the last 20 yrs our fall from the top to ONLY a top 4 team has been panful enough to watch, over the last 3 yrs our slide into mid-table mediocrity and becoming a selling club has been truely heartbreaking so if we finally allow a player (no matter how big) to dictate to the club we may as well close the gates at Anfield and go home. Make him wait til the summer, then if he hasn’t changed his mind hawk him round europe like a cheap watch (Bayern and Juve were willing to pay £45m last month) get a bidding war going while quietly spending the min £50m of the buyout clause BEFORE doing the deal as once its done anyone we go for will be way overpriced and then move on….
“over the last 3 yrs our slide into mid-table mediocrity”?
Wouldn’t say that was accurate. 18 months ago we finished 2nd, with 86 points and lost only 2 games all season. Ending with a goal difference of +50.
Admittedly 7th last season was poor but we did have long term injuries to our two best players.
This season no such injury excuses.
Guy with the fist looks like he going to hit him lol
Torres leaving Liverpool for Chelsea is the equivelent of him leaving Atletico Madrid for Real Madrid. Surely he must understand this. It is totally unforgivable!
lol..it’s not like that….Chelski are no rivals to LFC…they have no history..like the song says…they are only chelski..
You can’t compare the rivalry between LFC and chelski with Atletico and Real..
lol..it’s not like that….Chelski are no rivals to LFC…they have no history..like the song says…they are only chelski..
You can’t compare the rivalry between LFC and chelski with Atletico and Real..
I realy don’t know what to think at the mo, 2 weeks ago he pledges his allegiance and 4 days before the close of the window he wants out. something is not right about this. If a player wants to leave let them go, I agree not to a rival club but if his heart is not in the club he won’t perform for the club. “Long reign the KING”
top players are mercenary look at rooney classic example. always thought torres emotional state influenced his form. if a striker isnt happy the stats will show it. best to let him go it alters team chemistry and creates distraction. which has a negative effect on the pitch. 50 mill can go towards building this team for the future. everyone is dispensible in actual fact, this sturridge might be a gem who is to know.
This is a truly baffling one. Things are looking up, we’ve just spent a big sum of money on a good striking partner for Fernando and yet he wants to leave. I think it will show unbelievable lack of class if he goes to Chelsea. When you’ve played for one of the top teams in England, you don’t generally leave to join another one, especially during your peak years. If he wants to go to Chelsea then let him go. I’m only interested in people with Liverpool in their veins and clearly he doesn’t. The injection of cash that his sale could bring may make us stronger anyway.
Torres sent in his request BEFORE liverpool bought Suarez. LFC just released the info that he wanted to leave after they told us they bought Suarez. It was a genius pr move on their part. I mean think about it LFC has been slowballing this transfer for sooooo long and then bang all of a sudden they decide to pretty up the ante by over 10 million pounds the same day that we find out Torres called them on their bull**** and said I want out. Suarez was bought AFTER Torres told them he wanted to leave not before. And that is part of the reason that Torres wants to go. LFC has been talking for months about how they would improve the club but wait until 4 days of the end of the january transfer window before finally buy their 1st player when they need at least 5 good quality players! Dumb move on their part. I realize everyone will now blame Torres and he will be a hate figure but this lies at the feet of management. He’s already been lied to repeatedly they had meetings with all the major players and made promises and took their sweet time. And also mark my words if Torres goes Pepe Reina ain’t far behind! Undoubtedly teams like arsenal already have his number on speed dial.
what you say may be true daniel? but what i cant stomach is the lies fernando has told.
The 26-year-old marksman is contracted to the Merseysiders until the summer of 2013 with the option of a further year and he insists he will see out his deal.
Torres admits the Reds have endured a below-par campaign. “My head is in Liverpool and on helping save our season. I am professional and I always fulfil my deals.” one of the worst mistakes a footballer canmake through his career is opening his mouth.should of let your feet do the talking fernando lad.
Daniel, you serisouly have no idea mate How can you possible expect FSG to come in and change the teams fortunes around in 6 months??? Hicks, Gillette and Purslow spent a few years running this club into the ground, so no amount of cash injection would ever change things around that dramatically….
Its goona take time and with everyone doing their bit it may not take that long. Torres will lose all respect not jsut from LFC fans but from football fans all around the world. And I am willing to say the he will never capture the form he once showed once he leaves….YNWA
I’ve always thought it was useless to keep a player that didn’t want to play for you but I would have to say in this instance, it would benefit Liverpool to wait him out. Once Suarez comes in sit Nando for a few games and see if he comes around.