Liverpool’s former No. 9 believes he was wrongly accused of being a ‘football Judas’ following his switch to Premier League rivals Chelsea in January 2011 – Bet on Liverpool!
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Following his £50 million move – then British transfer record – to Chelsea, Fernando Torres believes he was wrongly portrayed as a traitor by the club’s hierarchy, according to Simon Hughes new book, “Ring of Fire: Liveprool FC into the 21st Century – The Players’ Stories.”
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The Spaniard explains that Damien Comolli – then Liverpool’s newly appointed director of football (October 2010) – assured Torres the club would be looking to sign young football prospects as a fresh project under Liverpool’s new owners Fenway Sports Group (FSG).
“Comolli told me that the new owners (FSG), they had an idea of how to spend their investment. They wanted to bring in young players, to build something new,” the 32-year-old striker comments, before conceding he didn’t have time for their long-term project. “I was thinking to myself, this takes time to work. It takes two, three, four, maybe even 10 years. I didn’t have that time. I was 27 years old. I did not have time to wait. I wanted to win. Here we are five years later and they are still trying to build – around the same position in the league as when I left.”
Supposedly, a Liverpool source leaked information the Spanish striker had “verbally requested” to leave the club, which betrayed Torres’ trust. “It was presented as if I was a traitor. It was not like this in the discussion(s). Liverpool could not admit they were doing something wrong with the whole team. They had to find a guilty one,” confessed the 2010 World Cup winner.
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El Nino now plies his trade back at Atletico Madrid – the club he started his football career at.
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During his three-and-a-half seasons at Anfield, Torres was one of the most feared strikers in football, however right after moving to Chelsea in the winter transfer window of 2010/11, he suffered a dramatic decline in fortunes. His first season with Liverpool (2007/08) saw El Nino score 33 goals in all competitions, 24 of which came in the Premier League, while in total he’s bagged 81 goals in 142 appearances for the Reds before sealing a move to Stamford Bridge.
For the remainder of the 2010/11 Premier League season, Torres found the back of the net only on one occasion in 14 outings for his new club, while the following three years didn’t prove any more fruitful. His best season with the Blues came in 2012/13 when he scored 22 goals in 64 appearances across all competitions, as Chelsea were crowned Europa League champions. Before moving to AC Milan on loan ahead of the 2014/15 season and then sealing a move back home with Atletico Madrid shortly after, Torres recorded only 45 goals in 172 games in total for the Stamford Bridge side – nearly half of what he produced at Liverpool.
Bet on Liverpool to win the 2016/17 Premier League!
Online sportsbook BetVictor is the official betting partner of Liverpool; you can find various markets and preferential odds on many competitions the Reds participate in under ‘Liverpool FC Specials.’ Currently, Jurgen Klopp’s men are underdogs for the title with odds of 7.00 (6/1), however that could very well change as the season progresses.
The first game of the 2016/17 campaign saw them go up against Arsenal at the Emirates, but they managed to clinch an emphatic 4-3 victory which gave them the first three points of the new season. Liverpool 1.53 (8/15) will next face Burnley 7.00 (6/1) away from home this Saturday (August 20), which should see them record another victory. A draw between the two stands at 4.33 (10/3), but we’re pretty certain Klopp will manage to pull this off as well, if the 4-3 win against the Gunners is anything to go by.
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