SPORTS
Torres makes record move from Liverpool to Chelsea
Baku, February 1 (AZERTAC). Chelsea have broken the British transfer record by paying a reported £50m to seal the capture of striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool.
The 26-year-old Spain international signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with the Blues.
The signing was pushed through shortly before the transfer deadline and came on a dramatic day, with Chelsea and Liverpool involved in the four biggest transfers of the day.
The Anfield club looked to plug the gap left by Torres leaving by signing two strikers - Uruguayan Luis Suarez from Ajax for £22.7m and Andy Carroll from Newcastle for £35m.
Chelsea also brought in Benfica defender David Luiz for a reported fee of £21.3m.
But it will be the capture of Torres that sends out the strongest message that the club remain a force to be reckoned with in the transfer market.
Torres, a World Cup winner in 2010 and European champion in 2008 with Spain, spent three-and-a-half years at Liverpool after joining from Atletico Madrid for a fee of £20m, scoring 81 goals in 142 matches.
Torres becomes the fourth most expensive signing in world football behind Cristiano Ronaldo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Kaka.