THE DAILY MAIL this morning ran with the story that Roman Abramovich has grown tired of Fernando Torres’ misfiring ways.
The Russian billionaire is reportedly ready to cut his losses 11 months after paying a British transfer record for the Spanish striker, slapping a €24m price tag around El Nino’s neck and flinging him into the January bargain bin.
Chelsea haven’t confirmed the reports and while there is every chance that it is simply customary pre-transfer window speculation, it does beg the question – would a return to Merseyside benefit the club and player?
It’s good business
Torres moved to West London for a hefty €60m on the final day of last year’s January transfer window.
At the time, it seemed a good deal for all parties involved as Chelsea wanted to strengthen their striking department and make a statement about their Champions League ambitions.
The Spaniard was suffering from a frustratingly poor period on Merseyside and his belief was that he needed a new start while Liverpool would’ve been mad to turn down the massive fee on the table.
This deal a year on would effectively mean Liverpool had only to pay €5m for Carroll with the €36m profit from Torres covering the rest. After his displays so far, some might argue that’s €5m too much for the former Newcastle United man but it would be a shrewd bit of business nonetheless.
He’s not half bad
Despite being horribly out of form, El Nino is still unquestionably one of the most talented players in the business.
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He was an instant hit at Liverpool when he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2007 and scored 81 goals in 142 games to become the finest number nine the club has seen since a young Robbie Fowler burst onto the Premier League back in 1993.
Finding himself in the middle of a lengthy bad patch, it looks increasingly doubtful that he will rediscover the form he showed between 2007-2009, but nonetheless, he is still a top class player.
At 27, a fit, confident Torres playing in a system which suits him would still get you 15+ goals a season and with Carroll yet to find his feet at Anfield, Liverpool could do with that right now.
The prospect of a Torres-Suarez partnership
When Liverpool first scouted Luis Suarez at Ajax, it was with the view of partnering him up with their first choice centre forward at the time. Sadly, the pair never got to link up as Torres’s departure coincided with the arrival of the Uruguayan.
The prospect of being able to send out a line-up which featured both players in it is a mouth-watering one.
Suarez has looked their biggest asset this season and having a rejuvenated Torres alongside him would send shivers down the spines of Premer League defences.
His relationship with Kenny Dalglish is repairable
Dalglish and Torres once enjoyed a decent relationship but it did wane at the end of the player’s Liverpool career, as Kenny took offence to his decision to hand in a transfer request. If the Scot decided that a reconciliation was best the club however, he would no doubt be willing to welcome him back.
Although it was in very different circumstances, Dalglish has experience of bringing players back to the club.
The legendary Ian Rush came home from Juventus after one year in Italy, and more recently, Craig Bellamy began his second stint at the club after leaving in 2007.
What other options does Torres have?
As far as Torres is concerned, there isn’t a huge amount of options if he is indeed surplus to requirement at Chelsea. Theoretically, he should be coming into the prime of his career and will be looking to keep hold of his enormous wages at one of Europe’s elite clubs.
If he’s hoping to stay in England, are there any realistic options? One of the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Spurs? Unlikely. How about a move back to Spain?
He is still idolised by his boyhood team Atletico Madrid, so city rivals Real are out of the question. What player wouldn’t want to play for Barcelona and while rumours that they might be willing to do a swap with his national team-mate David Villa emerged today, manager Pep Guardiola has denied the claim.
Beyond that, there’s Serie A and, more precisely, the two Milan clubs. Paris Saint-Germain have also shown they aren’t afraid to open the chequebook and there’s always Anzhi!
Torres would have to swallow a bit of pride but a move back to the North West would seem to make a lot of sense.
Most fans would take him back in a heartbeat
Nobody likes their emotions being toyed with and fans everywhere will have been weighing up how they would handle such a return.
Would you take back an old girlfriend that you still loved dearly after she had run off with a richer, more successful man only to discover she was better off with you in the first place?
Since reports broke, Twitter timelines have been clogged up with reaction and opinion and the general consensus is that feelings for Torres are still strong among Kop fans.
6 reasons why a return to Anfield would be a good move for Fernando Torres and Liverpool
THE DAILY MAIL this morning ran with the story that Roman Abramovich has grown tired of Fernando Torres’ misfiring ways.
The Russian billionaire is reportedly ready to cut his losses 11 months after paying a British transfer record for the Spanish striker, slapping a €24m price tag around El Nino’s neck and flinging him into the January bargain bin.
Chelsea haven’t confirmed the reports and while there is every chance that it is simply customary pre-transfer window speculation, it does beg the question – would a return to Merseyside benefit the club and player?
It’s good business
Torres moved to West London for a hefty €60m on the final day of last year’s January transfer window.
At the time, it seemed a good deal for all parties involved as Chelsea wanted to strengthen their striking department and make a statement about their Champions League ambitions.
The Spaniard was suffering from a frustratingly poor period on Merseyside and his belief was that he needed a new start while Liverpool would’ve been mad to turn down the massive fee on the table.
This deal a year on would effectively mean Liverpool had only to pay €5m for Carroll with the €36m profit from Torres covering the rest. After his displays so far, some might argue that’s €5m too much for the former Newcastle United man but it would be a shrewd bit of business nonetheless.
He’s not half bad
Despite being horribly out of form, El Nino is still unquestionably one of the most talented players in the business.
He was an instant hit at Liverpool when he joined from Atletico Madrid in 2007 and scored 81 goals in 142 games to become the finest number nine the club has seen since a young Robbie Fowler burst onto the Premier League back in 1993.
Finding himself in the middle of a lengthy bad patch, it looks increasingly doubtful that he will rediscover the form he showed between 2007-2009, but nonetheless, he is still a top class player.
At 27, a fit, confident Torres playing in a system which suits him would still get you 15+ goals a season and with Carroll yet to find his feet at Anfield, Liverpool could do with that right now.
The prospect of a Torres-Suarez partnership
When Liverpool first scouted Luis Suarez at Ajax, it was with the view of partnering him up with their first choice centre forward at the time. Sadly, the pair never got to link up as Torres’s departure coincided with the arrival of the Uruguayan.
The prospect of being able to send out a line-up which featured both players in it is a mouth-watering one.
Suarez has looked their biggest asset this season and having a rejuvenated Torres alongside him would send shivers down the spines of Premer League defences.
His relationship with Kenny Dalglish is repairable
Dalglish and Torres once enjoyed a decent relationship but it did wane at the end of the player’s Liverpool career, as Kenny took offence to his decision to hand in a transfer request. If the Scot decided that a reconciliation was best the club however, he would no doubt be willing to welcome him back.
Although it was in very different circumstances, Dalglish has experience of bringing players back to the club.
The legendary Ian Rush came home from Juventus after one year in Italy, and more recently, Craig Bellamy began his second stint at the club after leaving in 2007.
What other options does Torres have?
As far as Torres is concerned, there isn’t a huge amount of options if he is indeed surplus to requirement at Chelsea. Theoretically, he should be coming into the prime of his career and will be looking to keep hold of his enormous wages at one of Europe’s elite clubs.
If he’s hoping to stay in England, are there any realistic options? One of the Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Spurs? Unlikely. How about a move back to Spain?
He is still idolised by his boyhood team Atletico Madrid, so city rivals Real are out of the question. What player wouldn’t want to play for Barcelona and while rumours that they might be willing to do a swap with his national team-mate David Villa emerged today, manager Pep Guardiola has denied the claim.
Beyond that, there’s Serie A and, more precisely, the two Milan clubs. Paris Saint-Germain have also shown they aren’t afraid to open the chequebook and there’s always Anzhi!
Torres would have to swallow a bit of pride but a move back to the North West would seem to make a lot of sense.
Most fans would take him back in a heartbeat
Nobody likes their emotions being toyed with and fans everywhere will have been weighing up how they would handle such a return.
Would you take back an old girlfriend that you still loved dearly after she had run off with a richer, more successful man only to discover she was better off with you in the first place?
Since reports broke, Twitter timelines have been clogged up with reaction and opinion and the general consensus is that feelings for Torres are still strong among Kop fans.
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