Fernando Torres says he was unfairly portrayed as a “traitor” by Liverpool when he left the Merseyside club to join Chelsea for a then-British record fee of £ 50m in 2011.
The Spaniard scored 65 goals in 102 league appearances for the Reds but, in a new book by Simon Hughes entitled Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC Into the 21st Century, he opens up on the events which led to his acrimonious Anfield exit.
It was reported at the time that Torres had requested to leave Liverpool and forced the five-time European Cup winners into corner in pursuit of a lucrative switch to Stamford Bridge, something the 32-year-old Atletico Madrid striker now denies.
He said: “It was presented as if I was a traitor. It was not like this in the discussion. Liverpool could not admit they were doing something wrong with the whole team. They had to find a guilty one.”
The club was sold to Fenway Sports Group the previous October with Damien Comolli later being appointed as director of football, a move which heralded a complete change in transfer strategy at Anfield.
Torres added: “Comolli told me that the new owners, they had an idea of how to spend their investment.
They wanted to bring in young players, to build something new. I was thinking to myself, this takes time to work. It takes two, three, four, maybe even 10 years.
“I didn't have that time. I was 27 years old. I did not have time to wait. I wanted to win. Here we are five years later and they are still trying to build -around the same position in the league as when I left.” – The Independent