Torres Hypothetical

[Cheesy]

For me, it's too big a risk for us to take. £20m is way too much to spend on a player who hasn't been playing well for what will soon be two years.

He wouldn't even start as well, so why would anyone in their right mind go out and spend that sort of money on a sub?

 

[rcoobc]

You have to remember the money is going to Chelsea as well. Just because they did us a favour with Veron...

 

[Amar__]

Why would we do that? He would fourth choice, behind Welbeck, Hernandez and Berba, so he wouldn't be great addition even for free.

 

[Rado_N]

feck no.

I honestly find it staggering that anybody would want him, he's been absolute shite for a long, long time. If any player of ours had been as poor as him for as long as him there'd be an 800 page thread in the United forum calling for him to be sold and lambasting his purchase.

 

[jgraham]

For £15m i'd take a punt on him.

I'm probably in the minority in thinking it's just a matter of time before it turns around for him.

 

[Cutch]

No. I've waited that long on him to recapture his form that i'm starting to think its never coming back. Physically and mentally he looks shot.

 

[MUFCgal]

For 15-20m, yes I'd take him.

When you know that in then next year or so, both Owen and Berbatov will likely be away then yes definitely.

A strikeforce of Rooney, Torres, Chicharito and Welbeck would be

Rooney & Torres up front together could be lethal and I do believe we could get Torres firing again (maybe not the way he was at Liverpool, but a lot better than how he's doing now!). Then you've got the young Chicharito and Welbeck on the bench, and both would be great at making an impact from the bench, especially Chicharito.

 

[jatin]

I'd rather give Berba a chance

 

[Rado_N]

For 15-20m, yes I'd take him.

When you know that in then next year or so, both Owen and Berbatov will likely be away then yes definitely.

A strikeforce of Rooney, Torres, Chicharito and Welbeck would be

Rooney & Torres up front together could be lethal and I do believe we could get Torres firing again (maybe not the way he was at Liverpool, but a lot better than how he's doing now!). Then you've got the young Chicharito and Welbeck on the bench, and both would be great at making an impact from the bench, especially Chicharito.

Re the bold: what are you basing that on?

And why on earth would you want to drop Welbeck to fit him in?

 

[EdWeatherall]

Lets say for arguments sake that we could get Torres in the summer for £15-20m. Would this be viewed as a risk worth taking?

I'd take him right now for that amount
He still has it, no doubt about that, he would score an absolutely bucketload of goals with the pace we play the ball, and the speed we would get the ball to him

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

Nah. He's lost his explosive acceleration that made him really unplayable. Now he takes a second longer to do everything. Injuries at 'Pool have killed him.

Plus his attitude thinks. He's a sulk.

 

[rcoobc]

If he was at Wigan it might be worth it. But we'd be losing 15million on a 4th choice striker, and giving chelsea 15 million too.

 

[MUFCgal]

Re the bold: what are you basing that on?

And why on earth would you want to drop Welbeck to fit him in?

I'm basing it on how we play our football. Attacking football, with great service from the wings. Plus with Rooney playing just behind him (the way Gerrard did for Liverpool), I think he'd score goals with us.

As much as I like Welbeck, he's still not the finished article just yet, he's still got a lot to learn, and he's young.

 

[Zen86]

feck no.

I honestly find it staggering that anybody would want him, he's been absolute shite for a long, long time. If any player of ours had been as poor as him for as long as him there'd be an 800 page thread in the United forum calling for him to be sold and lambasting his purchase.

This.

 

[Theon]

Which is precisely why he needs games, not relegated down the pecking order.

Edit - @MUfCgal about Welbeck

 

[Rado_N]

I'm basing it on how we play our football. Attacking football, with great service from the wings. Plus with Rooney playing just behind him (the way Gerrard did for Liverpool), I think he'd score goals with us.

As much as I like Welbeck, he's still not the finished article just yet, he's still got a lot to learn, and he's young.

But what has he done in the last, say, 2 years to suggest he is even close to capable of performing?

Re Welbeck, he's not going to learn anything sitting on the bench watching Torres stroll about missing the odd sitter. He needs games and his development is coming along fantastically well, to spoil his momentum by benching him to bring in a player who's done nothing of use for 2 years is just bizarre in my eyes.

I honestly can't comprehend the notion of bring Torres to United. It seems to obviously a bad idea to me, it's strange to see people back it.

 

[AKDevil]

Watched a fair bit of Torres over the last year live and I actually think he is done, lost it.
The decline is incredible.
For a while, you think he might be getting used to Chelsea, getting over an injury or maybe was playing deliberately crap if he didn't like a manager or something.
But this has gone on too long. Way too long.
He has none of the attributes that made him what he was at Liverpool and to make it worse he doesn't even look interested.
What has happened to Torres is one of football's great mysteries, along with what happened to Ronaldo before the 1998 World Cup Final.
In a way, I'd like to be proved wrong because Torres at his best was ridiculously good...even though he was playing for them lot.

 

[acnumber9]

For Torres to score goals he would actually need to be brave enough to keep getting into the box and getting on the end of chances. Torres would rather hide out wide. He's finished.

 

[Vato]

Yes, I thought before that it could be a temporary thing but this bad spell is dragging on a bit too long to be a dip in form.
I don't think he will ever come close to becoming the player he was a few years ago.
Chelsea are screwed and for Liverpool it might have been a blessing in disguise that he wanted to leave at the time.

 

[BaldwinLegend]

His next move has to be back to Spain in a last chance to rediscover his form. Maybe Chelsea should loan him to A Madrid...

Nobody is going to pay 15-20 million for him now though, not for a striker who can't score.

 

[The Neviller]

He's a proper busted flush. Looks like he has no interest, no desire, no confidence, nothing. He'll never get confidence back if he has lost the desire or the fight needed to succeed at the highest level.

Maybe he fed off the scousers and their slavish adoration, maybe he doesn't get that at Chelsea.

Who knows. Either way, he looks like a pathetic figure at the minute. I don't think David Luiz praying over him with his hand on his head helps either, makes him look a bit weak.

 

[acnumber9]

Maybe we're seeing the real Torres who's scoring record before he went to Liverpool was pretty average.

 

[Ash_G]

Last time I saw him against us he did alright, he got through that one time really well but messed up obviously. He just seems to be over thinking things at the moment. I dunno, maybe he's gone for good but as I said if you offered me him for under £20 mil I'd have to take the chance. If he can get even near how he used to be then in todays terms he's well worth £20 mil, and tbh with him added we wouldn't need to add to a strike force for like 5 years unless there were crazy injuries.

 

[Brophs]

Malaga might have a punt on him.

 

[Phil]

Malaga might have a punt on him.

Agree.

And no, no I wouldn't.

 

[RedLars]

He'll probably go back to Spain and have a few decent seasons before vanishing. Doubt he'll ever be at the top of the game again, and he probably won't be able to offer much that Chicharito and Welbeck won't anyways.

In his heyday though, he would have been the absolute perfect foil to Rooney.

 

[charlenefan]

He's had plenty of those games in his Chelsea career.

Has he?

The only game I can remember him having a number of clear cut chances in was against us and he scored one of his chances and then scored the following week as well (and then got sent off)

 

[LLMU]

He'll probably go back to Spain and have a few decent seasons before vanishing. Doubt he'll ever be at the top of the game again, and he probably won't be able to offer much that Chicharito and Welbeck won't anyways.

It is a mental thing and going back to Spain could be the best thing for him. Having say that, if he didn't leave Liverpool, he could have found back his form.

 

[Twisted_Woody]

No. Not at all.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Ferguson tried to sign Torres numerous times before giving up and saying privately that he felt that Spaniard lacked composure in front of goal.

Why did he try to sign him if he thought he lacked composure?]

 

[Sky1981]

i have a feeling they (the old guards) hate him there, and trying to make his life miserable there (and yes, it can greatly affect performances)

Imagine if all of a sudden gerrard is playing with us (urgh)

 

[Freak]

I would take him for sure

 

[Baby Faced Assassin]

At OP, I wouldn't mind actually. With the service our wingers provide he would be perfect for us. And he will thrive playing alongside Rooney like he did alongside Gerrard. We are a much more complementing team to his style than Chelsea can ever be.

 

[sajeev]

Never liked him, since I followed him at Atletico and didn't get all the hype. Saying that he performed much better than I expected at Liverpool, didn't last very long though.

And it would be stupid to bring him in, unless he is free and is willing to accept a pay-cut. 20 million, you must be joking. Like someone said, it would be like Chelsea buying Veron from us, only much worse.

 

[Red_Aaron]

he wouldn't get in our second string

 

[McGrathsipan]

would he be prepared to be 4th choice?

he would be a very good replacement if berbatov and owen leave

His problems seem mental rather than physical - I think he can be a very good player again

the pressure of the price tag, the mess that is chelsea, and a real crisis of confidence have had their impact

I think Torres definately ust needs a transfer and we'll see a different player

15-20 million is too much for a 4th choice striker

there seems to be a pattern in this thread that has torres at 4th choice should he join United. (in the hypothetical world)

At the moment he isnt playing anywhere near his capability and thus would rightly be 4th choice, However if he joined and regained his old form he would walk into the team for every match. He was fantastic as we all know and he would be brilliant addition to the team if he could find his touch again

The question is would we be willing to pay up to 20 million to rehabilitate a player. Its a big risk and for 20 million its a hard decision.
You could spend 20 mill on another player and he could get injured or lose form etc etc...

Fit and on form Torres is 1st choice with Rooney and easily worth that money. Could we get him back to his best....we will probably never know

 

[Ish]

I'd take a punt on him between 10-15M yeah, but not closer to 20M, if that makes sense.

 

[golden_blunder]

There was something in the air that night
He played like shite
Fernando..

to the theme of Abba's "Fernando"

 

[Bilbo]

Torres has only been at Chelsea for just over a year now. Before he signed he had a pretty decent January for Liverpool if I recall correctly.

To put a slightly different twist on the original question, what would opinion be like if, for example, Manchester City were to purchase him for the same amount? Would it change anyones perspective?

 

[FlawlessThaw]

Why did he try to sign him if he thought he lacked composure?]

Because composure in front of goal can eventually come with experience