Analysis: Why Fernando Torres Could Still Quit Liverpool For Chelsea

Talismanic Spanish player gets itchy feet. Buyer lines up with a fat chequebook and promises of eternal happiness. Employer digs heels in while fans get agitated about club’s struggles to recapture former glories.

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For Cesc Fabregas and Arsenal, read Fernando Torres and Liverpool. Premier League superstars, it is almost universally agreed, that neither club can afford to lose and who would be almost impossible to effectively replace.

While Fabregas’ potential summer switch to his alma mater has been played out in the public arena through which Barcelona do most of their transfer business, Torres’ future has been the subject of hints here, steers there and more than a little guesswork for those who are not part of his inner circle.

Fabregas’ situation is clear. The player wants to leave and Arsenal don’t want – or need - to sell. Despite the barely comprehensible arrogance of their approach, Barcelona don’t appear to have as many Euros to rub together as a club of their standing and prodigious trophy acquisition should.

Result? Fabregas returns to pre-season training next week with Arsenal fully expecting him to knuckle down and lead the team into the new campaign.

Torres’ position is less coherent, despite Roy Hodgson’s refreshing directness on Wednesday, which long-time Liverpool observers note was a far cry from the tortuous politicking of his predecessor Rafael Benitez. Chelsea and Manchester City have both discreetly indicated their admiration for the Spaniard and have the money to back up their mouths.

Getting shirty | Fabregas' will-he-won't-he move to Barcelona is being mirrored by Torres

“He has told me he is looking forward to Monday, getting back to work and playing for us next season,” Hodgson said. “That’s what we know and as far as I’m concerned all other reports are erroneous.”

Torres has remained silent this summer. He has not delivered the blatant come-and-get-me pitch that Fabregas did to his former Nou Camp bosses at the end of last season. Liverpool’s Spaniard has kept his own counsel and not added to the call that he made for the Merseysiders to buy “four or five top-class players” to revitalise the squad.

Yet he has not publicly stated what he has privately indicated to Hodgson. While the new Liverpool manager is too intelligent and far-sighted not to have considered the significance and consequences of his words yesterday, until Torres backs it up with an unequivocal commitment of faith in the new Anfield project, the speculation will continue to rage.

Chelsea sources remain confident that one of the world’s most coveted strikers can still be enticed to Stamford Bridge.

The Premier League champions would not be considering a £50 million bid unless they had received the right kind of signals from Torres’ camp. Likewise City, although the Manchester club are considered a long-odds third favourite to be showcasing the Spaniard in their team at the end of the transfer window.

For a player with such a hit-and-miss appearance record over the last two seasons – Torres started only 29 of Liverpool’s 56 games in 2009/10 – a move to a club with a stronger squad, as well as genuine title-winning credentials, would be attractive.

Rather than be expected to start every fixture, Torres could be rotated with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka and avoid the kind of physical damage that has cruelly interrupted his path to greatness and so ruined his World Cup.

Moreover, there is the financial issue that, whatever players and their agents might say, always bubbles close to the surface.

While Torres signed a new Liverpool contract 14 months ago worth a reported £110,000-a-week and that runs until 2013, the new 50 per cent income tax legislation introduced in the UK in April puts him in a disadvantageous position compared to many of his fellow Spanish World Cup winners.

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“Someone like Cristiano Ronaldo is taxed at 24 per cent because he joined Real Madrid in July 2009 before the new Spanish tax rule for foreigners came into effect and will be taxed at the same rate for the entirety of his six-year contract,” explained Hackleton. “Fernando Torres is taxed at 50 per cent on his income so his net figure is considerably lower.

“The basic tax rate in Spain for foreign players is significantly lower than the UK at 43 per cent. And because Torres is a Spanish national, he would be keeping even more of his gross income. At the back of his mind he might be thinking, ‘Some players who are not as good as me are taxed at a lower rate'.”

There are whispers that Torres does also not benefit from the kind of images rights deal at Liverpool that would be expected of a player of his standing.

Recent court documents revealed that at Manchester United, Wayne Rooney earns £760,000 every six months – or £1.52m per year – in image rights, a top-up to his £90,000-a-week wages.

“Torres’ image would certainly be worth the same as Rooney,” said Hackleton. “The way the agents look at it when they are negotiating deals is how much the player’s image is worth to the club in terms of marketing and selling merchandise.

"If you think about how much money Man United make out of Wayne Rooney from selling merchandise, I don’t think £2m would be an unreasonable figure for image rights because they would make more than that out of his image.”

By that reckoning, Torres’s advisers could ascertain that the player is losing millions each year through UK tax rates and failure to maximise his commercial earnings. A move to a wealthier club with a fatter contract could cut any perceived shortfall in one stroke.

The footballing and financial benefits of leaving Liverpool and moving to new pastures will all have been considered by Torres’ camp during his three-week summer break.

Hodgson has firmly thrown the ball into the Spaniard’s court. How Torres returns it will define the success or otherwise of Liverpool’s summer transfer activities. Ditto Fabregas and Arsenal.

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