Liverpool reject Chelsea bid for Torres

Chelsea had been told that the Spanish international was not for sale.

LONDON: Liverpool have turned down an audacious bid by Chelsea for their striker Fernando Torres. Chelsea, who are believed to have tabled a similar bid for the player last summer, had been told that the Spanish international was not for sale, Liverpool said in a statement on its website.

“Chelsea have made a bid for Fernando which has been turned down,” said a Liverpool spokesman. “The player is not for sale.”

Newspaper reports earlier put Chelsea’s bid at £35 million for 26-year-old Torres who is under contract at Liverpool until 2013. However he is widely reported to have a buy-out clause in his deal which will allow him to leave if another team matches his £50 million valuation. The clause was believed to have been inserted as a concession to Torres after Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League last season amid uncertainty over the club’s ownership.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 29^th,  2011.