Valencia Have To Sell Villa Or Silva - Hunter

Los Che endured a miserable season in La Liga - coming dangerously close to relegation - and also finished bottom of their Champions League group and faced elimination from Europe outright.

They won the Copa del Rey, but it proved scant consolation for coach Ronald Koeman, whose disaster reign came to an end towards the end of the season when the club wielded the axe.

The club have amassed immense debts and Hunter, speaking exclusively to Sky Sports News, believes that the club will categorically have to sell at least one of their two major stars, David Villa or David Silva.

"Valencia, the club that Rafa knows so well, are €360 million in debt, without the way of getting out of debt that they were relying on," said Hunter.

"They're selling the stadium, they've invested money in players that's gone really, really badly and they were counting on their insurance policy.

"They do need to sell players. Either Silva or Villa need to go this summer in order to clear the debt.

"Valencia are not sustainable in their current position and as such, if there's a deal in the offing - whether it's Silva or Villa I don't know - there needs to be a sale."

Hunter then opened the floor to a potential Liverpool move, recalling that coach Rafael Benitez had attempted to lure the striker to Spain in 2004 before he was eventually snapped up by his former club, Valencia.

"And Liverpool, remember, were the first to try and get David Villa out of Spain when he moved from Zaragoza to Valencia," continued Hunter.

"Rafa Benitez tried to sign him then; long before Crouch and Torres were even heard of at Anfield, and this was the guy that Rafa Benitez first wanted to bring into Anfield as his first Spanish signing."

However, Hunter had words of caution for starry-eyed Kopites hoping for a dream partnership between Villa and Torres, explaining that though their relationship off the pitch is as good as can be, on it, their chemistry does not always result in the Liverpool ace grabbing the goals as freely as he did for Liverpool in his debut season.

"They certainly get on as individual guys, but there is a potential detriment to what we saw [from] Fernando Torres last season," he explained.

"It was interesting to hear the way that Fernando Torres talked in a really professional, grown-up way about having to subjegate himself as the striker to provide for David Villa when in theory, the number 9 was Fernando Torres for Spain and David Villa was the guy that was supposed to link midfield and the supply to Fernando Torres.

"It didn't work like that at all. Torres definitely was the one given the donkey-work to do; the work that he expressly said at the end of the season with Liverpool he was delighted not to be doing anymore.

"He wanted to be the point of attack who was bringing all the goals.

"He said expressly - 'Dirk Kuyt does the work of three men for me at Liverpool; that's why I'm given space, that's why there are channels for Stevie Gerrard to play the ball into my path, that's why I'm scoring so many goals.'

"If the two were reunited at Liverpool, I have to say that we would see a completely different Fernando Torres. Maybe that would be good for the team, because it's not about signing the best goal-scorer in the Premier League for Liverpool, for the fans and Rafa Benitez.

"It's obviously about winning cups and principally the Premier League. So, the Villa-Torres partnership might well be excellent for Liverpool, but it would certainly be, if not detrimental for Fernando Torres, it would change his style of football."

Ray Winston, Goal.com

Liverpool fans: what do you think? Would Liverpool be a good signing, or are the Reds better off getting the best out of Fernando Torres?