Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has revealed there was "general astonishment" in the Reds dressing room when Chelsea agreed to pay £50 million for Fernando Torres in 2011.
Fernando Torres of Chelsea looks on during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on January 14, 2012 in London, England.
Photo: Jamie McDonald/GETTY IMAGES
Chelsea paid a then-Premier League record fee to sign the Spaniard seven years ago, only for Torres to struggle to hit the heights that were expected of him.
Once rated as one of the most dangerous strikers in the history of world football, Torres failed to recapture the form that made him such a feared forward whilst at Anfield.
For some inexplicable reason, he had become a shadow of his former self, a stranger to the league that catapulted him to the world stage.
In fact, having scored 91 goals in 244 appearances for Atlético Madrid and then a quite wonderful 81 in 142 games for Liverpool, Torres failed to score at all in his first 903 minutes for Chelsea.
In total, he scored just 45 goals for the Blues in 172 appearances.
Writing in his column for The Daily Telegraph, Carragher has admitted that his fellow Liverpool teammates knew that their rivals weren't getting the player who'd nearly helped the Reds win the league in 2009.
Torres, 34, is now plying his trade in Japan with Sagan Tosu as he winds down his illustrious career that saw him win the World Cup, two European Championships, the Champions League and two Europa Leagues.
 |
Photo: Jamie McDonald/GETTY IMAGES
Chelsea paid a then-Premier League record fee to sign the Spaniard seven years ago, only for Torres to struggle to hit the heights that were expected of him.
Once rated as one of the most dangerous strikers in the history of world football, Torres failed to recapture the form that made him such a feared forward whilst at Anfield.
For some inexplicable reason, he had become a shadow of his former self, a stranger to the league that catapulted him to the world stage.
In fact, having scored 91 goals in 244 appearances for Atlético Madrid and then a quite wonderful 81 in 142 games for Liverpool, Torres failed to score at all in his first 903 minutes for Chelsea.
In total, he scored just 45 goals for the Blues in 172 appearances.
Writing in his column for The Daily Telegraph, Carragher has admitted that his fellow Liverpool teammates knew that their rivals weren't getting the player who'd nearly helped the Reds win the league in 2009.
When Chelsea bid £50 million for Torres in January 2011 there was consternation among Liverpool supporters.
Although we could never state it publicly at the time, there was general astonishment in our dressing room. We thought Chelsea had not been watching him for the previous 12 months.
We knew Chelsea did not sign the player they thought. They bought a striker who - aged 26 - had already played 468 games, had not had a summer off for the previous three years and was constantly trying to repair his body.
Torres started to have a hamstring problem during the 2008/09 season, and also suffered an ankle injury the year we finished runners-up to Manchester United. The following season - Rafa Benítez's last as Liverpool manager - he had a groin and knee issue and was a shadow of himself, despite still regularly scoring goals.
Beyond Merseyside no-one seemed to notice, attributing poor displays to a struggling team. In training we could see there was more to it.
Torres, 34, is now plying his trade in Japan with Sagan Tosu as he winds down his illustrious career that saw him win the World Cup, two European Championships, the Champions League and two Europa Leagues.
