£70m Fernando Torres: Chelsea launch huge bid for striker as Roman Abramovich looks to blow Manchester City out of the water
Chelsea have made a dramatic move for Fernando Torres that they hope will catch Manchester City cold and take the Liverpool striker to Stamford Bridge for a British record transfer fee that could reach £70million.
Sportsmail understands preliminary discussions have already taken place, with the outcome of those meetings positive enough to convince Roman Abramovich that he will beat his big-spending rivals at Eastlands to the 26-year-old Spaniard.
Chelsea owner Abramovich has been relatively quiet in the transfer market by his own extravagant standards since Jose Mourinho left. But the success and stability Carlo Ancelotti has brought, achieved with an attacking style Abramovich appreciates, have convinced the club’s Russian billionaire to make another stellar signing.
Chelsea can secure their third Barclays Premier League title during Abramovich’s tenure with the right result at home to Wigan on Sunday — before then chasing a possible domestic Double with the FA Cup final the following weekend — and Abramovich now wants to add the extra quality to the side that will enhance their chances of finally winning the Champions League.
Chelsea are not afraid to sign Liverpool’s best players. In 2005 and 2006 they went close to luring captain Steven Gerrard from Anfield and now they are sure they will succeed with the player named in the FIFPro World XI for the last two years and ranked third behind Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka at the FIFA World Player of the Year gala for 2008.
Amid the chaos at Anfield, fears have already been expressed that Torres, who joined from Atletico Madrid for around £20m in 2007, will leave Liverpool this summer.
It was only last year that he made a commitment to the Merseysiders by signing a new four-year contract worth £110,000-a-week.
But the Liverpool landscape has since changed significantly, with under-fire manager Rafa Benitez now on the verge of leaving for Juventus, yet more uncertainty over the future ownership of the club, and the team’s failure to qualify for next season’s Champions League hanging over Anfield.
Only this week Torres’s team-mate, Yossi Benayoun, said: ‘A club like Liverpool must do everything they can to keep players like Stevie (Gerrard) and Fernando but a lot of things can change and in a few weeks we will know better.’
Benitez has valued Torres at £70m and Anfield officials have said that they will not sell their prized asset.
But until now, Torres has only enjoyed major success at international level, having scored the winning goal for Spain in the final of the last European Championships, and Liverpool’s shocking season has convinced him to look elsewhere.
With the continued uncertainty over the future of Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, and no guarantee as yet that his club will secure Champions League football next season, it is understood that Torres would favour a move to a more settled club who look like winning the championship.
After watching his colleagues lose pitifully to Chelsea on Sunday, Torres cut a forlorn figure as the players did a circuit of the pitch to thank the fans for their loyal support. Indeed, he already looked like a man ready to move on.
Liverpool were only concerned with his fitness yesterday, and whether he would be fit to participate in the World Cup after suffering a knee injury during a Europa League clash with Benfica last month.
‘Whether he will be fit for Spain’s first game or not is uncertain,’ said Peter Brukner, who is overseeing his recovery at Anfield. ‘But, if he continues to progress the way he is, he should be fit to play at some stage during the World Cup.’
By the time he does he will almost certainly be heading out of Liverpool.
