Boss want Torres cash - showdown talks key to future
-
Rafa Benitez: I want Fernando Torres cash - showdown talks key to future of Liverpool boss
Rafa Benitez will hold crunch talks with Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton today with his tenure as manager in the balance and the club reeling from Chelsea's bold move for Fernando Torres.
As Chelsea prepare to offer £70million for Liverpool's star striker, Benitez will meet Broughton in London and demand written assurances that all money raised from player sales can be used to sign new ones.
Hot shot: Chelsea and Manchester City are chasing Liverpool's Fernando Torres
Benitez believed he had been given such a guarantee when he signed his new contract last year, but monies from sales have since been used to service the club's debts.
Unfortunately, Broughton is unlikely to be able to give 50-year-old Benitez the promise he is seeking, due to the chairman's non-executive role and the club's delicate financial state. That will frustrate Benitez further and push him into a corner over his future, which is still very uncertain with Juventus waiting for him to decide if he is keen to move to Turin at the end of the season.
Privately, Chelsea are surprised that their discreet move for Torres has become public. Yet the rumbling confusion over Benitez's future has encouraged them to believe they can be successful in their battle with Manchester City for the 26-year-old rated the world's best striker.
The divide between Benitez and the club's hierarchy seems to be growing wider with every day and the stark realisation that the talismanic Torres could be sold has brought the club's dramatic slide into sharp focus.
Juventus are waiting patiently for an answer on their four-year contract offer for Benitez, but the Spaniard is believed to have reservations about taking on the challenge in Turin with the club in such a state of transition. However, the sale of Torres would leave Liverpool in a similar situation and most probably turn dwindling public support against the manager.
Show and tell: Rafa Benitez will hold crunch talks with Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton
If, as seems likely, Benitez does depart, the presence of Kop idol Kenny Dalglish as an intermin manager will at least appease fans as the club searches for a suitable replacement. However, the pressure will be on for them to make giant str ides quickly after such a disappointing season on all fronts.
The sale of the club is paramount to those changes, but the project Benitez began in 2004 seems no closer to completion. Although Liverpool have made plans to sign new players, the extent of that recruitment is difficult for them to predict.
The club have held preliminary talks with Real Madrid about Rafael van der Vaart and were linked with Real's Royston Drenthe and Guti yesterday, but any such moves are likely to be shelved until Benitez and Torres final ise their futures. Dutchman Drenthe has potential but Guti - although a free transfer - would be unlikely.
Fiorentina have expressed an interest in Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani, although his agent Franco Zavaglia said: 'I don't think there is anything concrete. It is still too early to tell if a deal is possible.
'First of all, the priority is to finish the season well. Then we will know what will be the future at Liverpool.'