The Perfect Foil For Fernando Torres?

Title: The Perfect Foil For Fernando Torres?

Rumours about Liverpool's interests in David Viila and his namesake Silva resurfaced recently, whilst Man City have been linked with a move for Villa. The availability of Villa and a host of other Valencia stars such as David Silva and Raul Albiol has become more prominent due to recent reports suggesting Valencia is in dire financial straits.

I have been a long time admirer of Villa and did cling on to the faintest hope that Liverpool might have signed him last summer. However, that always seemed improbable and Benitez eventually ruled out an immediate move for him, opting for Robbie Keane instead. Given that Keane was sold in January, I really do hope Rafa and the Liverpool board seriously reconsider moving for Villa, as having him and Torres up front is a salivating prospect. But the financial constraints that Hicks and Gillette place on Benitez for transfers make me doubt whether this would ever happen...

More often than not Benitez has had to sell players to generate funds before buying, and Liverpool's one and only £20m+ signing to date has been Torres. In the January transfer window Liverpool did not make a single signing and it was clear there wasn't much of a budget for Rafa to dabble in the market with in the first place. Meanwhile, Man Utd managed to sign Serbian duo Zoran Tosic and Adem Ljajic for a reported combined fee of around £16.3m. Moreover, I don't think the United board would hesitate if Fergie was to take up the option to sign Tevez permanently for around £30m.

The bottom line I think is that Hicks and Gillette should either cough up with the money or sell up. The fact that they are doing neither is extremely infuriating for us Liverpool fans. They have hinted at selling but to then quote to prospective buyers a price of £500m when the club still has outstanding debts that has yet to be refinanced just shows what the duo are all about. It was hardly surprisng when I read that talks with the interested buyers hit stumbling block after stumbling block, I mean to describe the quoted price of £500m as over the top would be a massive understatement.

Finally, there are some who suggested that Torres and Villa do not play well together based on their performances during Euro 2008. I personally don't buy that whatsoever. Torres and Villa are the first names on the team sheet playing upfront for the #1 ranked team in the world. They might not work as well together as some might expect but they are still a formidable partnership. Afterall, they won Euro 2008 playing together and they continue to do so for Spain. Furthermore, it was clear to see during Euro 2008 that Torres and Villa relate very well with each other, which is a big plus point in my opinion. If, and it's a big if, Rafa is backed to move for Villa then I believe we have a very good chance of signing him over other teams, as I expect Rafa and the Spanish contingent at Liverpool would prove to be a huge temptation for him to join the Reds.

Written By: turan

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