'That was an awful lot of money for us, but I never had the slightest doubt he would be worth every penny,' he [Benitez] said. 'I made it clear at the time that I thought it was cheap, and that has been born out. Hopefully, we will be saying that for years to come, because I can see him getting even better.
'We drew up a list of 10 strikers at the time and went through their strengths and weaknesses. In each category, Torres came top.
'You just wonder how much he is worth now. It is difficult to put a figure on it, but it must be at least £70million. During the summer, there were some agents acting for English clubs who contacted us to ask what the price would be. They were talking about big, big figures, but we left them in no doubt he was not for sale. Not at any price.
'People say every player has a price, but Fernando hasn't. Money cannot buy him. I think he will be happy with that, too, because he is very settled here. There is more to come from him because, for all his outstanding ability, he still has a real eagerness to learn.'
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'We drew up a list of 10 strikers at the time and went through their strengths and weaknesses. In each category, Torres came top.
'You just wonder how much he is worth now. It is difficult to put a figure on it, but it must be at least £70million. During the summer, there were some agents acting for English clubs who contacted us to ask what the price would be. They were talking about big, big figures, but we left them in no doubt he was not for sale. Not at any price.
'People say every player has a price, but Fernando hasn't. Money cannot buy him. I think he will be happy with that, too, because he is very settled here. There is more to come from him because, for all his outstanding ability, he still has a real eagerness to learn.'
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