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Jamie Carragher Explains How Liverpool Players Reacted To Fernando Torres Sale

Jamie Carragher Explains How Liverpool Players Reacted To Fernando Torres Sale

The Liverpool legend also compared Torres' plight after he left the Reds with what's happening to Alexis Sanchez at Manchester United.

Ryan Sidle

Ryan Sidle

Fernando Torres' departure from Liverpool to Chelsea was seen as a bit of a betrayal by everyone at the time. Now Jamie Carragher has revealed he and his teammates were shocked for a different reason.

Players moving from one club to their rivals are always in for a bit of rough ride from their former club. Whether it's shouts of 'Judas,' unfair songs or having a pig's head thrown at them there's always some form of abuse.

Fernando Torres was the subject of that kind of thing, maybe not the pig's head, when he left Liverpool for Chelsea on the last day of the January transfer window back in 2011.

At the time Torres was still one of the most dangerous strikers in the world and one of the Reds best players but his time with the Blues was nowhere near as successful and he managed just 45 goals in 172 appearances.

The Spaniard cost Chelsea £50 million, then a Premier League record, but, in his Telegraph column, Jamie Carragher revealed the price came as a huge shock to him and his teammates at Anfield, saying:

"When Chelsea bid £50 million for Torres in January 2011 there was consternation among Liverpool supporters. Although we could never state it publicly at the time, there was general astonishment in our dressing room.

"We thought Chelsea had not been watching him for the previous 12 months. We knew Chelsea did not sign the player they thought."

Chelsea got a very different Torres to the one they were expecting. Image: PA Images
Chelsea got a very different Torres to the one they were expecting. Image: PA Images

After plenty of injuries there was no doubt the former Atletico Madrid forward had lost some of his form and had only scored nine goals that season before his move to Stamford Bridge.

Clearly Carragher and the rest of the team could see that their rivals weren't getting the player who'd nearly helped them win the league in 2009.

Torres celebrates at Old Trafford as Liverpool hunt down a title. Image: PA Images
Torres celebrates at Old Trafford as Liverpool hunt down a title. Image: PA Images

Carragher sees a similar situation in the Premier League today. He compared Manchester United's signing of Alexis Sanchez to the Torres move, saying, "Sanchez's best years have gone. He is to Manchester United what Fernando Torres was to Chelsea.

"I witnessed this with Torres, a player who rose to world-class status but then lost his explosive pace and could never get it back.

"I see history repeating itself with Sanchez. He looks like a footballer with too much mileage in his legs.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Liverpool, Football News, Chelsea, Manchester United, Alexis Sanchez, Premier League, Fernando Torres, Arsenal, Transfer news, Jamie Carragher