ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE:LIVERPOOL'S PREPARATIONS for the new season were given a huge boost yesterday when Fernando Torres announced he had decided to stay at the club, rejecting the possibility of an €85 million move to Chelsea or Manchester City.
Having followed Steven Gerrard in committing himself to the new manager Roy Hodgson’s plans, Torres immediately set his sights on helping a club who finished seventh last season mount an authentic title challenge.
“I know that one trophy here at Liverpool – maybe the Premier League – means more than three or four with another club,” the Spain striker said. “This was my target from the day I came and it’s still my target. My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed.
“From my first day I got the same welcome as Stevie (Gerrard) or Carra (Jamie Carragher) and the other players who have been here for a long time. I felt at home from the first day. I feel the fans love me and everyone knows I am really happy here and really happy to play at Anfield. I’m looking forward to starting the season.”
Torres returned to training on Monday after being given a three-week holiday because of his involvement in the World Cup final, and he thanked Hodgson for travelling to Spain afterwards, to make it clear how much he wanted him to be a part of the new era at Anfield. “I really appreciated the fact Roy came out to see me while I was on my holidays. He told me about his plans for the club and what he wanted from me, and I appreciated that. I hope he will be the right man to reach the targets of Liverpool and I am really looking forward to working with him.
“Hopefully this season we can feel this sensation (winning the league) here at Liverpool. This is the best club in the country so the targets and expectations are always high. At Liverpool the aim is to fight for every title. It was difficult last season but we are sure we can improve this season.”
Of Joe Cole’s signing, Torres added: “I think Joe is exactly the kind of player we need to improve the history of our club. He is the kind of player I like to play with and who can take the team to a higher level.”
Torres had spoken midway through last season about the importance of the club adding “four or five” major signings if Liverpool were to have a genuine chance of winning their first championship since 1990. At various stages over the past year Chelsea and City have been encouraged to believe he was giving serious consideration to leaving Anfield, but the 26-year-old pointed to an exciting future at Liverpool in a week that has also seen the chairman, Martin Broughton, claim there are several bidders trying to take control of the club from the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
One is the China-born businessman Kenny Huang and it emerged yesterday the Premier League has already had dialogue with at least one of the interested parties with a view to what has become known as the “Portsmouth rule”, whereby prospective owners have to provide proof of their finances.
That rule has been introduced amid other financial and governance reforms added to the Premier League rulebook. It stipulates new owners must provide financial evidence of their ability to fund the club throughout a season – an aspiration all of Pompey’s owners last season failed to achieve – as well as to meet in person with the league board no fewer than 10 days prior to the change of control. That meeting has not yet taken place, indicating no takeover will be concluded before the middle of this month at the earliest.
Torres’s time at Anfield has been tarnished only by the frequency with which he has been injured, but Torres has not discounted the possibility of being ready for the start of the season. “I have less than two weeks to get ready but I felt really good in my first session back with the physios and the doctor. At the moment I am training just on my own but as soon as I can, I will train with the team and with the new manager.”
Guardian Service
