Vadim Ghirda/AP/Press Association Images
Talk of Torres having problems with his knees had been circulating since April 2010, when he missed the end of Liverpool’s season in order to have surgery to rectify a persistent injury. Manager Rafael Benitez had spoken at the time about Torres being ‘exhausted’, adding to concerns that the player’s health was on the wane. Missing the pre-season preparations in 2010/11 meant he went into the season struggling for match fitness, which combined with a general feeling of unease about the direction the club was heading in to result in his worst run of form for Liverpool to date.
When Chelsea came in for the striker in January 2011, the player looked a fraction of his former self. In the months following the move, with Torres’ form significantly worsening after his move to London, questions were raised about why the move had taken until the last minute of the transfer window to conclude. The more reasonable argued that it was simply in order to ensure that Liverpool were able to secure a replacement in Andy Carroll, signed for £35 million from Newcastle at the same time. More suspicious whispers however implied that Liverpool knew of Torres’ injury and held out as long as they could not only to extract the most money possible out of a clearly desperate Chelsea, but also to ensure that the player would not have time to undergo a full medical which might reveal the delibilitative nature of the problem in his knees and scupper the move.
We’ll never know what is fact and what is fiction, but can say for sure that Torres arrived at Chelsea showing a very distinct lack of match sharpness and missing the few extra yards of pace which had proven so essential to his game.
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