Posts Tagged ‘Fernando Torres’

Gill: We are not ready to sell our best players

September 8th, 2008

David Gill insisted that he was treating the suggestion of $ 270 million offer for United Star Cristiano Ronaldo ‘with pinch of salt’.

Sulaiman Al-Fahim, who is the billionaire at centre of City takeover through Abu Dhabi United Group, confirmed that in the later part of the coming week, they can make world record offer for the Portuguese player.

Gill, Chief executive of Manchester United, said ‘If offer of such proportions will be given, any side is bound to give a consideration’.

However in the statement given to BBC Radio Five Live, Gill said “I feel that it is more of a comment coming from a fan.’

He felt that with two other players, Fabregas and Torres, also mentioned in the same release, the officials at Old Trafford will treat it with pinch of salt.

Gill showed his desires in meeting the man behind the scene of the deal, Al-Fahim, when he said, ‘I’ve never come across the gentleman. He is giving an offer hard to reject. However at the same time, I know that this deal might change the face of industry. So, it’s tough to believe that his offer might be serious at any level.’

When asked that if they will consider this offer once given, he clearly stated ‘The ultimate decision will be made by the owners and Sir Alex Ferguson, as the involved is huge. Simultaneously, everyone should know that we cannot think of selling our best player at any given cost.’

It seems that Red Devils are showing the same enthusiasm, which was on display during the Real’s offer for Ronaldo. However, only time and City’s offer will tell about the future of the Red Devils Star.

Torres out for 3 week with hamstring injury

September 3rd, 2008

Chances of an in-form Fernando Torres facing the European Champions, Manchester United, looked slim, after a hamstring tear ruled him out of contention for three weeks.

With this news, it was almost certain that Spanish Forward was not expected to make a comeback before an all important clash against a strong Old Trafford Side, who added Dimitar Berbatov as another attacking option, on September 13.

Liverpool Star suffered the injury after he pulled up sharply while chasing a ball during the game on Saturday against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

Torres has now joined Liverpool Skipper Steven Gerrard, who is out with a groin problem, on the injury list.

Dutch and Liverpool midfielder Dirk Kuyt felt that the weekend’s goalless draw was the best available result for them, after the team was playing without their star forward.

Kuyt said ‘Although we weren’t able to create opportunities on the opponents end, our defense was always active. The credit for the side’s coming out with a point from the game should go to the defenders’.

On being asked of the impact of this injury on his side, Dutchmen replied ‘Torres being one of the best players in the world, his absence will be missed.’

‘Though we have the experience of Robbie Keane upfront, still the results are not proving to be good for us. Probably, former Hotspurs forward needs sometime to settle down’.

Kuyt is assured that the players will come up with goods in the game against United, even though they will be playing without the likes of Torres and Gerrard in their ranks.

Liverpool signs Riera for 4 years

September 2nd, 2008

Liverpool has signed Spanish winger Albert Riera on the final day of the transfer season.

Reds bought the Espanyol winger Riera for an undisclosed transfer fees. He has signed a 4-year contract at the Anfield Club and will be looking forward to make full use of this opportunity presented to him by Liverpool Boss Rafael Benitez.

Riera, who will be wearing Number 11 jersey for his new club, has previous English Club experience. He played for Manchester City on loan during 2005-06 season.

Liverpool won the race ahead for the winger ahead of Everton, another English club looking out of sorts at the moment.

Another player booked by the Reds on the last day is Brazilian striker Vito Flora. The 18-year old player from Botafogo has been bought on a free transfer and will be moved straight into the reserve bench of the club.

Meanwhile, there is some bad news for Liverpool fans. Officials at the club have accepted that star forward, Fernando Torres, has sustained a hamstring injury during the goalless draw at Villa Park. However, the seriousness of the injury is yet to be known.

In this way, the problems of the club, mainly Benitez, has increased. With an average performance so far in the season, Liverpool manager will be hoping that his new signings may fill the shoes for Torres, if he is declared unfit for the coming games. He will be hoping that Irish Captain Robbie Keane puts his hand out and makes up for a disastrous start to this season.

Liverpool Vs Sunderland: Reds scrap a 1-0 win against Black Cats

August 17th, 2008

Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has finally got a reason to smile following the miserable UEFA qualifier draw to Standard Liege on Wednesday. Liverpool registered an away defeat in their very first game of the season against a Roy Keane led Sunderland in the Stadium of Light.

Liverpool started with their new 20 million signing Robbie Keane among others like Jamie Carragher, Steve Gerrard and Dirk Kuyt. However, the former Tottenham man was rarely a help in the attack.

The Reds were shocked by the way Sunderland played the first half, when the home fans were witnessing an attacking game of football from their side.

Sunderland had four debuts in El-Hadji Diouf, Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda and Steed Malbranque, all four of whom tried to make a quick impression in the match.

In the 13th minute, Diouf made a stunning cross to Daryl Murphy, who headed the ball straight to the Reds’ goalie Reina.

Among others, Malbranque was also quite eager to contribute in the game.

After a goalless first half, Xabi Alonso was brought in at the start of the second one, and he almost scored from the opposite half of the ground when his strike was just off-target.

The game finally got into the Reds’ hands when Keane was substituted by El Zhar in the 77th minute.

After an attacking game of football the Spanish forward, Fernando Torres scored after 5 minutes of Keane’s substitution, much to the amusement of the away team’s supporters, which was the only goal in the match and helped the Anfield side to register a win.

Meanwhile, Hull City won their first ever Premiership match against a Fulham side with an impressive 2-1 score. However, newcomers Stoke city failed to impress, as they lost 1-3 to Bolton Wanderers.

Keane confident of doing well in tandem with Torres

July 31st, 2008

After his long awaited and widely rumoured transfer to Liverpool, former Spurs’ player Robbie Keane has stated that he will love playing alongside Spanish goal machine Fernando Torres.

Keane is twenty eight years of age and is the captain of the Irish football team, and has been signed for 20 million pounds at Anfield.

He said after his successful medical at the club’s training ground that he will love to have a strong partnership with Torres, who was the hero of the just concluded Euro Cup, helping the team to win in the finals against Germany.

Tottenham have now lost one of their star attractions in Keane, the other being four-time Bulgarian player of the year, Dimitar Berbatov, who for most of this transfer season has been an element of curiosity for Manchester United.

Keane now maintains that he has been a life long supporter of Liverpool, and hopes to end their title drought which has now spanned to 18 years. The last time Liverpool won a trophy was back in 1990.

Keane is now expected by the Liverpool manager Rafael Banitez to play as a man behind Torres or as a right winger. This decision can cause a bit of stir considering that the last time he tried this was on Dirk Kyut, and the experiment backfired.

Banitez seems to be truly inspired by the striker’s ability to score goals and play intelligently, which has been dubbed as ‘selfish’ by many critics.

Tottenham Hotspur seems to have gotten wind of this transfer early on, and that is evident from the long list of buys they have had this season.

Other high profile transfers from the Spurs’ side include loaning out of defender Anthony Gardner to newly promoted side Hull and talks over England midfielder David Bently with Blackburn Rovers.

Peter Crouch: Fretton Park might see some Robotic Dance this season

July 7th, 2008

Peter Crouch, the tall 27-year old forward, who ended the season 2006-07 as Liverpool’s top scorer in all competitions with 18 goals in total and scored his first hat-trick in the same season against Arsenal, has expressed concerns to leave the side and join Portsmouth at Fretton Park.

Turning down a $9 million deal from Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez seems to have ideas of his own. Liverpool seems to be desperate of getting a good price for the England forward, so that they can get more players during this transfer season itself, including Gareth Barry from Aston Villa.

Initially Liverpool will be getting $16 million in the Football Transfer Market as a part of the deal today itself, if the deal goes on well and Portsmouth can work out the details with Crouch. England international seems to be in a hurry to get away from the club for joining Portsmouth, as he was not on the starting lineup for most part of the previous season with Spaniard Fernando Torres in full flight.

The move from Portsmouth manager comes from his previous experience with the Liverpool forward during his stint at.

According to Liverpool boss Benitez, Crouch cannot keep playing every week as he’ll be getting competition from players like Dirk Kuyt, Xavi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Spanish forward Fernando Torres. So, it is unlikely that Crouch will get a place in the starting lineup, if the club decides to keep him.

It is too early to say whether the famous ‘Robotic Dance’ will be continued at Anfield or Fretton Park, still fans will be hoping to catch the glimpse of the lanky forward display his talent!