Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed that Liverpool have had ‘big offers’ for some of their key players including Fernando Torres. Speaking to the Mirror, the Reds manager said:"We have had some very big offers for some of our key players this summer - and that includes Fernando Torres.”
The article speculates that as many as “FOUR mega-money bids” have been rejected for the Spanish striker, stating: “Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City all made it clear they would pay £60million for Torres.”
But Benitez declared the striking sensation was not for sale and offers would not be listened to, as Torres himself stated he had no intention of leaving:
"Clubs wanted Fernando and we were contacted by agents working for those clubs. But we always knew that when a bid came in we would say 'no.' The main thing was that Torres wanted to stay here. People knew the player wanted to stay, but it did not stop clubs trying.”
"Football has changed and there is big, big money around. But we still have the same idea to keep the spine of the team and work hard for next season. In football and life you cannot guarantee anything, that is a fact.”
"But what I will say is that we wanted to send out a message that Liverpool are a strong team and that we want to improve. You don't improve by selling your best players."
The article says that “Torres' fitness will be monitored throughout the season” and “he has undergone specialist physical conditioning to ensure there is no repeat of the hamstring problems that hit him last season after playing at Euro 2008.”
Speaking about Michael Owen, Rafa suggested that a return for the fallen kop idol would not have worked.
"We had some contact about Owen and we were analysing the situation. But we have a World Cup coming up and the top players want to play every week. It would have been hard for Owen to play every week at Liverpool.”
No comments:
Post a Comment