Liverpool Secure Torres For £27m
El niño heading to anfield, pending finalisation.
£27m Torres heading for Anfield as Benítez makes striking move
Sid Lowe in Madrid
Friday June 29, 2007
The Guardian
Liverpool and Atlético Madrid have agreed a deal to take Fernando Torres to Anfield. Liverpool will pay fractionally less than the €40m (£27m) buy-out clause Torres has at the Vicente Calderón, leaving the 23-year-old striker to finalise personal terms before the move goes ahead. Neither side anticipates major difficulties in closing the deal, with Liverpool understanding that any percentage of the transfer fee due to Torres must be paid by Atlético.
Luis García is set to go in the other direction for almost £4m but although his move facilitates negotiations on Torres and would bring down the cash price, the deals are not interdependent. Liverpool paid £6m for García when he joined three summers ago but their manager, Rafa Benítez, is prepared to release him and García is keen on a return to Spain to play for the club where he spent a successful season in 2002-03, scoring nine times in 30 games.
Although Atlético fans protested against the sale of Torres - the captain, standard-bearer and the player they have called The Kid since he made his debut at 16 - the club have decided it is time to cash in on their greatest asset. "No one is irreplaceable," said their major shareholder, Miguel Angel Gil Marín. "We have to build a competitive team and no one player, however good he is, can achieve our objectives on his own. Last time I spoke to Fernando he said he was staying but I can't prevent him having a change of heart and I have to be prepared for that."
Atlético have previously had to withstand an offer from Tottenham and informal approaches from Chelsea for Torres, but agreed to drop Torres's buy-out clause from €90m to €40m this summer to facilitate a move. They are keen on a cash injection and Torres has grown tired of waiting to fulfil his dream of playing in Europe for the club. He has always insisted he does not want to play for another Spanish team and is an admirer of the Premiership.
"If I left Spain I'd like to go to England, because it's interesting and because the way they play in Italy's not so attractive," he said 18 months ago. Liverpool wanted to offer Djibril Cissé as part of the deal but the Frenchman rejected the move. Torres scored 14 league goals last season, taking him to 75 in five top-flight seasons.
Liverpool have signed the 18-year-old Athletic Bilbao defender Mikel San José for £270,000 and given their 22-year-old midfielder Mohamed Sissoko a new four-year contract.
Source: The Guardian
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