We thought he was different. When Fernando Torres scored hatfuls of goals during his first few seasons at Liverpool we loved him. When the Spaniard said that he wanted to remain on Merseyside for the rest of his career we believed him. When he claimed that he would never even consider a move to another Premier League team we trusted him. We were convinced that he was not just another foreign mercenary in it for the money.
Yet, after a manic end to the January transfer window, we were proved emphatically and cruelly wrong as Fernando Torres joined Chelsea, signing for a British record fee of around £50 million and leaving Liverpool fans furious at his traitorous, back stabbing, money grabbing move to the London club.
It all started on Friday night when, after hours of celebration following the news that a deal to sign Luis Suarez from Ajax had been agreed, Fernando Torres shocked the Reds by handing in a transfer request. This was promptly rejected by a defiant Liverpool, however his desire to leave left the club with no choice other than to negotiate with Chelsea, who had earlier submitted a £40 million bid that was immediately and sternly rebutted.
The puzzlement and confusion regarding the transfer request led to a storm of speculation filling the media and the web over the coming days, with supporters unable to comprehend his desire to leave, particularly considering the signing of a world-class striker in the form of Luis Suarez and the inspirational return of Kenny Dalglish, who employs a pass and move style particularly suited to Torres' talents.
On deadline day Chelsea, determined to finally acquire a long-term target, upped their bid to £50 million, which Liverpool reluctantly accepted. With time rapidly dwindling Torres eventually completed his switch with around half an hour of the transfer window remaining, drawing his four year stay at Liverpool to an abrupt, controversial and unnecessary end.
The fury and anger at his departure has permanently tainted his relationship with the Anfield faithful, many of whom will now instantly forget virtually all of the positive aspects of Torres' time at the club, justifiably labelling him as a backstabbing Judas. In fact, I believe the nickname "The Spanish Owen" most aptly describes the lying Iberian.
Nevertheless, the gargantuan transfer fee of £50 million for an underperforming player hell-bent on leaving the club is a sensible piece of business both on and off the pitch. In modern day football player power is rife and there would be no purpose in keeping a player who isn't happy at the club, no matter how crucial he is to the side. Also, Torres has lacked form and fitness for nearly 18 months now, leaving Liverpool with a tremendous amount of money considering his best form was several years ago and will require time and patience in order to return.
Although Torres remains a world-class striker capable of terrifying any defence on his day, those days where he has displayed his frightening brilliance have been few and far between, with the only example of his awesome ability this campaign arriving ironically in our 2-0 win over Chelsea. His move to the Blues now allows both player and club to move on, with Liverpool moving swiftly to replace the Spanish striker on a busy final day of the transfer window.
The exciting capture of Ajax striker Luis Suarez was completed on transfer deadline day, with the 22-year old signing a five and a half year deal and claiming the legendary number seven shirt previously worn by temporary manager Kenny Dalglish. The Uruguayan has a reputation for prolific goalscoring but also appears to have a discipline problem that occasionally sees him pick up unnecessary cards. However, he is one of a select few to score over a century of goals for Dutch giants Ajax, where he shares the prestigious company of Johan Cruyff and Marco Van Basten.
Also, his impressive form at the World Cup clearly demonstrated his potential, and he could develop into a fantastic striker at Liverpool alongside fellow new signing Andy Carroll, who signed for a club record fee of £35 million from Newcastle United yesterday. Carroll is also 22 and has penned an identical deal to Suarez, however that is where the comparison ends, with the tall, strong Englishman providing an intriguing alternative to the diminutive and technically gifted Suarez.
Liverpool's new number nine has only played Premier League football for half a season, however in that time he has managed 11 goals in 20 games, an enviable record considering the relatively low expectations of the recently promoted Magpies. There is little doubt that Carroll has a promising future ahead of him, however doubts have been raised about his off field antics and the huge fee paid to secure his signing.
Despite these legitimate concerns I am certain that Dalglish will be able to curb Carroll's off field excesses whilst moulding and shaping him into a world-class player capable of playing at the highest levels of both domestic and international football. Moreover, although £35 million is clearly an excessive amount for a relatively untested player, Liverpool were left in a desperate state due to Torres' petulance and had few other feasible options so close to the deadline.
Had Chelsea revealed their intention to sign him earlier then Torres could have handed in a transfer request and left the club with time to assess the available replacements and sign another striker for a reasonable amount of money. Instead, the Torres deal was rushed through at the last minute, leaving Liverpool with the undesirable situation of needing to splash out on Andy Carroll.
Nevertheless, Liverpool can be pleased with their deadline day dealings. The Reds have replaced an underperforming and uncommitted 26-year old with two young strikers with bags full of potential and promise that will now hopefully come to fruition at Anfield. The restructuring of the squad has been accelerated by the arrival of two extra exciting and enthusiastic strikers who will surely revitalise and breathe new life into our attack. Of course they will both require time to settle into the club and, in the case of Suarez, the English game, however the length of their contracts affords them the time to adapt and develop in an ever improving Liverpool side.
Most encouragingly and significantly Liverpool fans have finally experienced the drama of a hectic deadline day, something that rarely occurred under the previous owners. In recent years Liverpool supporters have bemoaned the lack of investment and watched on despondent as Hicks and Gillett plundered the squad in order to repay their debt.
In stark contrast new owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG) have shown a refreshing desire to improve the squad through significant investment in crucial areas of the side. Although Liverpool's net spend only amounts to just over £2 million, the important aspect is that the money received from the Torres deal was reinvested in the squad immediately, rather than going to the banks' coffers.
With similar investment a real possibility in the summer Liverpool fans should be hopeful and positive looking to the long-term future, even if the fact that we fell for Torres' lies still infuriates and vexes in the short term.
YNWA
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