Chelsea poised to swoop for Liverpool’s £50m Torres

The Daily Mail today reports that Chelsea are ready to offer £50 million in a daring bid to sign Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is said to be ready to create funds for the transfer which will see the the club break the world transfer record if the sale goes through. The current record is held by French legend Zinedine Zidane when he moved from Juventus to Real Madrid.

Despite the fact that Chelsea sacked manager Avram Grant on Saturday, Chelsea continue to pursue a number of players who have already been identified by the club as potential targets.

The Daily Mail reports that Torrest is one of those names that top the list of targets, and the Premier League runners-up will aim to persuade owner Tom Hicks to sell the popular striker.

Liverpool are currently a club in turmoil, and Chelsea look set to cash in on the choas at Anfield. Tom Hicks has said that he is desperate to raise profits at the club, and may see the sale of Torres as great business. Liverpool would make a profit of £27 million for the Spaniard after he moved to Anfield for £23 million from Atletico Madrid last summer.

However, it is unlikely that Rafa Benitez will agree to the sale, and any accepted offer would not only cause Liverpool fans to riot, but may also Benitez finally walk out the door at Anfield after season-long, strained relations between owner and manager. Although Hicks may look to make a profit at Liverpool, the American is also determined to become a popular figure among the fans, and may realise that the sale would make him public enemy number one.

Benitez is reportedly currently unhappy at the lack of resources at the club, and told the Daily Mail: “It is more difficult because after two years of Chelsea winning the league and spending big money, United (Manchester) needed to do the same. They started spending big money, and Arsenal were also spending big money on young players.”

“We’re trying to do the same but it’s more difficult to catch up. We’ll do our best. The key is not to talk about the title.”

Manager-less Chelsea have already been linked with a number of big name signings, including Kaka and Robinho, and the club envisage that any manager would not object to bids for these world class players.

[Source: Daily Mail]