Re: Torres - Chelsea 35mil Bid turned down
[quote author=SaintGeorge67 link=topic=43861.msg1267653#msg1267653 date=1296263367]
On the bbc gossip bit the telegraph says torres feels "verbally intimdated". Can anyone post the actual story here? I can't get on that website for some reason 🙁
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By who?
The 26 year-old striker has stunned Liverpool by following up his verbal request to leave Anfield — delivered on Thursday — with a formal plea to leave. Initially Torres asked for Liverpool to at least negotiate with Chelsea. But his resolve has hardened in the last 48 hours and he wants to leave now.
Liverpool are adamant that Torres is not for sale and manager Kenny Dalglish has already told the player and the club’s owners that he will not agree to any deal.
Liverpool will have to respond on Saturday as they try to defuse the crisis that has enveloped the club and with Chelsea already set to submit a revised offer for the Spanish international.
It is understood that the Premier League champions want to offer striker Daniel Sturridge as part of an increased bid. A formal offer of £28 million was rejected two days ago and Chelsea have already intimated they will raise that to more than £30 million with Sturridge as a makeweight to take it closer to Liverpool’s expected valuation of £50 million for Torres.
The fact that Torres, who has been unhappy at Liverpool for some time, and voiced his disquiet last summer, has submitted a transfer request shows his determination to leave.
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However, Liverpool are highly unlikely to agree to a move and will hope to persuade Torres to stay at least until the summer. The request is the latest in a remarkable season of possible departures by high-profile players, with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tévez making similar moves.
The difference with Torres, however, and what makes it far more serious for Liverpool, is that he is acting in direct response to a bid from Chelsea who have been chasing him for some time.
There was no response from Liverpool on Friday night but the club are expected to release a statement on Saturday.
Liverpool will be angry at the speed of developments and believe that Torres has been unsettled. Chelsea insist they do not want to wait until the end of the season — when Liverpool may be more willing to sell as they will have more time to rebuild.
Talks are believed to have taken place with his representatives earlier this week which led to Chelsea lodging a formal offer, which was promptly rejected. The issue is a first real test for Dalglish since his return to management. He has told Torres and the club’s American owners, Fenway Sports Group, as well as Chelsea’s negotiators, that the player is not for sale.
Liverpool have backed this stance in a statement but there is a sense, from Chelsea, that the £23m signing of Luis Suarez may open the way for the sale to happen if they also offer Sturridge. Liverpool made inquiries about the 21-year-old striker earlier this season and it’s understood that Sturridge wants to leave Chelsea having grown frustrated at his limited opportunities.
Liverpool have completely dismissed this scenario, insisting that they want Suarez to play alongside Torres rather than replace him and given the team’s improvement under Dalglish it is unthinkable that the manager will be undermined now.
Chelsea are certainly acting under some encouragement that their bids will be successful and are not considering any other transfer targets for this window beyond Torres and the ongoing saga of David Luiz’s move from Benfica which also needs to be resolved.
Chelsea’s negotiators last night refused to accept a statement by Benfica to the Portuguese Stock Exchange meant that negotiations had broken down.
This not only contradicted what the Lisbon club had said on Thursday but also what Chelsea believe, having reached an agreement in principle to buy the 23-year-old Brazilian defender on Monday evening for 25m euros cash plus a player valued at 5m euros. Chelsea offered midfielder Nemanja Matic but, after a wrangle over payment schedule, Benfica have now demanded Salomon Kalou who is not for sale.
Chelsea have obtained a work permit for Luiz and he was set to fly to London yesterday before being told to return to his club. “It’s not dead,†said one Chelsea source. “We still think it could happen.†Luiz has been manager Carlo Ancelotti’s priority this window and although he knows that — if he stays as Chelsea manager after this season — he has to overhaul his strike-force he had intended to see out of the campaign with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka who are both in their thirties.
Ancelotti spoke ahead of the FA Cup tie away to Everton and was clearly uncomfortable and, at times, agitated at being questioned over Torres. “If you don’t want to speak about Everton I can go to lunch,†he said. “I don’t want to speak about this (Torres). You have to ask the club.
I have to respect Liverpool. He’s not my player. This is the reason I don’t want to speak Torres is not my player so I don’t want to say what club is doing at the moment. The same with David Luiz.†Ancelotti, however, denied suggestions that he was not involved in the bid for Torres.
“When we try to do something we (the club) speak together and make the decision. I knew about the bid,†he said. “Every time when there is a possibility to find a better player for this club we will try. I don’t need to explain when we move.†The Italian insisted that the late move for Torres was not borout of “desperation†but conceded that, for now, it remained only a “dream†that he would play for Chelsea.
