Deadly duo: Torres and Villa (right) line up for
Spain against Honduras and Barca hope to pair them at the Nou Camp
too
Barcelona are preparing a bid for Liverpool
striker Fernando Torres but are determined not to pay over
the odds.
Sandro Rosell, who on July 1 takes over from Joan Laporta as Nou
Camp president, has agreed with coach Pep Guardiola that they
should take advantage of the uncertainty at Anfield by launching a
raid for Torres.
Reports in Catalonia say the champions of Spain are not prepared
to go above £38million for the 26-year-old, which is well short of
Liverpool's valuation, but Barca are confident that Torres wants to
join them.
Chelsea are
also interested and would be prepared to submit a much higher bid,
but the Catalans hope they are in a strong enough negotiating
position to claim that Torres will only leave Anfield for them.
They have used the same tactic in pursuit of Cesc Fabregas from
Arsenal, dismissing a potentially higher bid from Real Madrid
because the Gunners captain has made it clear he wants to move to
Catalonia.
Barca remain keen and patient in their bid to sign Arsene
Wenger's captain and still hope to pay less than £40m for a player
rated at about £60m in north London.
High riser: Fernando Torres rifles in his 17thy of the
season
David Villa has already joined the Blaugrana from Valencia for £34m, but
Rosell wants to make a statement and will help fund further
signings by selling Yaya Toure to Manchester for £28m.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic's exit will raise at least a similar amount,
with AC Milan said to be the Sweden striker's favoured destination
ahead of Manchester
City and Chelsea.
Torres has repeatedly voiced his happiness and commitment to
Liverpool, but it has often come with the caveat of the
underachieving Merseysiders bringing in world class recruits.
'We need four or five top class players to compete, players
better than the ones we have,' he said in March. 'If we do not
reinforce the squad, next year all we will be able to do is fight
for fourth again.
Top target: Fabregas (right) in Spain training with
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol
'I want to be fighting for the Premier League, the
Champions League or the Europa League, but to do this we need
signings to come.'
On the contrary, there is little money to spend and reports of
star players leaving rather than being brought in.
Steven Gerrard is wanted by Real Madrid, while Inter Milan and
Barcelona are among the clubs keen on fellow midfielder Javier
Mascherano.
Torres joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid three years ago
with the hope of winning titles, but has yet to add a winners'
medal to the Euro 2008 title he won alongside a number of Barca
players with Spain.
The delay over Roy Hodgson's appointment as manager at Liverpool
is also a concern, but a deal for Torres is in any case unlikely
till Spain's participation in the World Cup is over.
As with Fabregas, Torres's status as a premiere Nike-sponsored
athlete is an added attraction to Rosell, who is a former executive
of the sportswear manufacturer.