Mark Lawrenson: Fernando Torres has proved Rafa's a transfer master

Mar 11 2008 by Mark Lawrenson, Liverpool Daily Post

FERNANDO TORRES – talk about impeccable timing. I’m not just talking about the striker’s current goalscoring run and his incredible pace and finishing power.

He’s also doing his manager plenty of favours at the moment too.

The Spaniard is living proof that when Rafael Benitez is given cash to spend he gets it right.

That when the big money is stumped up, he has the courage of his convictions and makes it pay off.

And with new owners, or at least a new structure at the top, imminent it’s the ideal time for Torres to be sending that message out.

Make no mistake, many clubs were looking at him last summer and have been for a few years, including the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea.

The general feeling was that when he was at Atletico Madrid he needed a few chances before he found the net.

Simply, other clubs just didn’t think he would come to England and be as good a goalscorer as he has been.

Safe to say 25 goals in 34 games have made a mockery of that theory.

And the attitude of Torres has also been a revelation.

He’s had a couple of minor injuries but he doesn’t strike me as the type who likes to spend a lot of time on the treatment table in the week then suddenly start looking interested in training when Friday rolls round.

He quietly gets his head down and works hard and it’s been so refreshing to see.

All of which does wonders as a bargaining tool for Benitez when he goes back into the transfer market this year.

And it’s obvious that he needs to.

I hate making comparison with past eras but I think the echoes of Rush-Dalglish in the Torres-Gerrard combination ring true. But the difference is my old team-mates had other players around them who were good enough to ensure that Liverpool could win the league.

Benitez just doesn’t have that at the moment, which is why he should be getting very excited at the prospect of new investment.

I’ve hinted here before that I think Ryan Babel can eventually develop into the type of match-winner that Benitez needs to add to his two world-class talents.

But he needs more.

And progress in the Champions League won’t harm his cause either.

Tonight I’m sure he will play it the classic Benitez way, keeping it tight away from home to ensure Inter Milan are kept at bay.

After all, if the Italians don’t score they’re not going through.

But if Liverpool go with one less attacking player it shouldn’t harm their chances too much.

Because with Torres in the side and the form he is in at the moment, you wouldn’t back against them getting the away goal that will clinch a quarter-final place.

And the chances of the manager being given the resources to make a signing as good as him will only do what Torres’s goal tally is sure to in the remainder of this season – increase considerably.