Fernando Torres playing for Liverpool v Birmingham

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has made no secret of his admiration of Liverpool’s star striker Fernando Torres. City flirted with the opportunity of making a move for Torres in the summer transfer window but were thwarted when Torres pledged his immediate future to Liverpool just before the season started.

However, the Spaniard has struggled for form this season scoring just once while his team languish in the relegation zone with just 6 points to show from seven matches. With Torres’ struggles well-documented, rumours have been circulating that Manchester City are looking to launch a fresh big-money bid for the striker’s services in the January transfer window. But should Liverpool cash in on arguably their most prized asset?

Much has been made about Fernando Torres’ body language in recent weeks and my colleague Mark Malloy has written an excellent piece analysing what Torres’ body language says about his commitment to the club. He argues that Torres’ body language has been misconstrued by the media and that rather than expressing negativity, he is displaying passion by showing his frustrated emotion on the pitch.

Torres’ seemingly negative body language has been given as a sign of his discontent at Liverpool and desire to leave the club. More worryingly for Liverpool that Torres’ body language is the players that Roy Hodgson has brought into the club.

Torres committed his future to Liverpool after the board promised him that the club would bring in high calibre players to strengthen the squad but the signings that Roy Hodgson has made for Liverpool so far have been overwhelmingly underwhelming.

He has shown some ambition in bringing in Joe Cole from Chelsea and Raul Meireles from Porto but apart from that, his signings have failed to impress. He bought Paul Konchesky from former club Fulham and Christian Poulsen from Juventus and both have been uninspiring in Liverpool’s campaign to date.

As a result of Liverpool’s failure to really strengthen the squad, there is a good danger that if their current form continues, Torres could become disillusioned with life at Anfield and decide that the club’s ambition is not the same as his. If this does turn out to be the case, Liverpool will have no choice but to sell him to the highest bidder.

But selling your best players will only force Liverpool to take a step backwards. The sale of Torres would send a disastrous message to the fans about the club’s ambition if they sold their star striker to a league rival.

With Liverpool’s lowly league position and question marks over Hodgson’s ability to attract the very best talent to Anfield, they could have problems attracting a player of Torres’ standard who could replace the Spaniard should the club decide to sell him.

Torres has always given his all for Liverpool football club and despite all of the rumours about his future, the player himself has not said that he wishes to leave the club so it seems that a move for Torres in the transfer window could be a case of wishful thinking on the part of our nation’s media.

In any case, the future of Torres is hugely dependent on the outcome of Liverpool’s impending takeover by NESV and John W. Henry. Current owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are opposed to NESV’s bid as they look to try and weasel a profit out of the sale of the Merseyside club. Hicks and Gillett have appealed to the High Court to decide whether the deal that chairman Martin Broughton made last week is legal. The case is set to be heard today and the outcome of which will be pivotal in the future of Liverpool.

If the takeover does get the green light, it means that the financial future of Liverpool will be secured and from there, things would certainly be looking a lot brighter at Anfield.

What do you think? Should Liverpool hold on to Torres or look to cash in?

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