Match Highlights: Liverpool 2-0 Stoke

Luis Suarez made a goal scoring debut as Liverpool beat Stoke City 2-0 at Anfield on Wednesday night.

The Reds' new No.7 was handed his bow as a second-half substitute, playing just under half an hour and finding the back of the net on 79 minutes after rounding goalkeeper Asmir Begovic and slotting home much to the delight of the Kop.

Raul Meireles had earlier put Liverpool ahead on 47 minutes when he pounced on a loose ball inside the box to fire home his third in four matches.

The result is the Reds' third straight victory and consolidates their position of seventh place in the table.

After a hectic deadline day at Anfield, in which the club broke their transfer record twice in the same 24 hours to bring in Suarez and Andy Carroll, whilst also selling Fernando Torres to Chelsea, it was back to on the pitch matters for Liverpool.

With all transfer activity now done and dusted until the summer, Kenny Dalglish was eager for his side to build on their back-to-back victories in the Barclays Premier League over Wolves and Fulham - six points that had elevated Liverpool up to seventh in the table.

Of the new signings, only Suarez was included in the Reds' 18-man match day squad as Carroll continues to recover from injury - the Uruguayan named on the substitutes' bench alongside the fit-again Jamie Carragher.

Dalglish made three changes to the side that had beaten Fulham last time out, with Lucas Leiva, Fabio Aurelio and Sotirios Kyrgiakos restored to the starting XI.

Meanwhile, Stoke included former Anfield men Jermaine Pennant and Salif Diao in their line-up. [Read more…]

  

Sources: Video courtesy of FootyTube.com and match report by LiverpoolFC.tv

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Liverpool smashed two club record transfer fees on one day

Andy Carroll has completed his transfer from Newcastle United to Liverpool FC and signed a five and a half-year-deal that will keep him at Anfield until 2016.

The club agreed a record transfer fee of £35million with Newcastle earlier yesterday for the transfer of the England international striker.

The deal was subject to the completion of a medical, which the player has now passed.

Andy Carroll will wear the No.9 shirt for Liverpool.

Meanwhile, Luis Suarez has also completed his transfer from Ajax to Liverpool FC and signed a five and a half-year-deal.

The club has also agreed a record transfer fee of up to £22.8million with Ajax for the transfer of the Uruguayan international on Friday.

Luis Suarez will wear the No.7 shirt for Liverpool.

In other transfer deadline story, Daniel Ayala will not be joining Derby County.

It was thought the defender would be heading to Pride Park on an emergency loan, and the player was in Derby this morning to complete his move.

But following further discussions between both clubs and the player it has been decided that Ayala, who is currently recovering from a hamstring injury, will continue his rehabilitation at Melwood with a view to signing for the Rams on emergency loan when the window reopens.

What a dramatic January transfer window deadline for Liverpool Football Club. Fernando Torres are now out of sights, the Reds has signed to new young strikers in Carroll and Suarez. The future at Anfield looks brighter than ever.

Source: LiverpoolFC.tv

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Fernando Torres joined Chelsea for £50million

Liverpool Football Club can confirm Fernando Torres is now a Chelsea player.

The Spaniard completed his move from Liverpool to Stamford Bridge just seconds before the transfer deadline at 11pm.

The 26-year-old had a race against time to complete a medical and finalise paperwork to seal the British transfer record deal of £50million.

But in the last few minutes, the confirmation was given that Torres had completed his controversial move out of Anfield to Chelsea.

The striker has signed a five-and-a-half year contract after agreeing personal terms.

His £50million transfer dwarfs the £32.5million that Manchester City paid for Robinho in the summer of 2008. In fact, only Kaka (£56million, Milan to Real Madrid, 2009), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (£56.5million, Inter to Barcelona, 2009) and Cristiano Ronaldo (£80million, Manchester United to Real Madrid, 2009) have cost more than Torres in the history of the game.

Speaking at Stamford Bridge after finalising the move, Torres, who was also pictured with a Chelsea shirt [sorry, I won’t post his picture in the Blueshit shirt].

   "I am very happy with my transfer to Chelsea and I am looking forward very much to helping my new team-mates this season and for many years to come. Having played against Chelsea many times since coming to England, and in some very big games I will never forget, I know there are many great players here and I will work hard to win a place in the team. I hope I can score some important goals for the supporters to enjoy this season." said Fernando Torres.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have confirmed the loan signing of 17-year-old Coventry midfielder Conor Thomas, with a view to a permanent deal at the end of the season.

Adios, El Nino.

Leave your thoughts or banters on the comment box below.

Sources: Liverpool ECHO, ESPN

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Liverpool full-back joined Forest on loan

Liverpool full-back Paul Konchesky has joined Championship side Nottingham Forest on loan for the rest of the season.

Konchesky has endured a troubled time at Anfield since he was signed by former Reds manager Roy Hodgson from Fulham last August.

The 29-year-old had made 18 appearances for Liverpool this season, but has been unable to win over the club's supporters.

He has not made an appearance since Kenny Dalglish replaced Hodgson as manager earlier this month and had been linked with a return to Fulham.

However, Dalglish has now confirmed that Konchesky has opted to join Forest to boost the club's push for promotion to the Premier League.

Forest manager Billy Davies had been anxious to improve his squad before the transfer window closed and Konchesky could play in Tuesday's game away to Coventry City.

Meanwhile, Kenny Dalglish had nothing to report on Fernando Torres at this morning's press conference, but he did reveal that Jamie Carragher was back from injury and available for Wednesday's clash with Stoke.

In other news, Daniel Ayala has been loaned to Derby.

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv, SKY SPORTS

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Torres will be a Blues by the end of the day

The Fernando Torres transfer saga is expected to go to the wire but will end with him as a Chelsea player, according to reports in this morning’s British press.

Liverpool have lined up a remarkable £50million worth of transfers for deadline day as they prepare for life without Fernando Torres. The plan includes moves for Ashley Young and Charlie Adam.

Chelsea are willing to pay cash to bring the disaffected Torres to Stamford Bridge in what would be a record transfer between two British clubs, although not the £50million that Liverpool are seeking, which equates to the release clause in the 26-year-old contract should the Anfield club fail to qualify for the Champions League this season.

Torres returned to Liverpool's training ground today following a short break in Spain and he spent over seven hours at Melwood, accompanied by his representatives. He also trained for the first time since stunning Kenny Dalglish and the Liverpool squad with the timing of his transfer request, but he did so alone.

Chelsea have yet to agree a fee with Liverpool over the player whom Roman Abramovich hopes will revitalise their title defence and enhance his chances of bringing the Champions League trophy to London. Negotiations will continue on deadline day, with Chelsea hopeful that Liverpool's asking price will drop to as low as £37million as 11pm approaches, although that appears unlikely. A £35million bid was rejected out of hand by FSG on Thursday and Liverpool's owner views the signing of Suarez as a way to provide support for Torres, not to name his replacement.

   “Chelsea are prepared to meet Liverpool’s £50million valuation of Fernando Torres before the transfer window closes at 11pm” report The Independent.

“Chelsea are planning to make a £45million cash offer for Fernando Torres” according to The Telegraph.

“Chelsea are willing to pay cash to bring Torres to Stamford Bridge in what would be a record between two British clubs” say The Guardian.

Whatever happens over the next 20 hours, Torres has sullied the memories Liverpool fans held of him. He's pulled a knife, stabbed deep and it's hard to see those wounds healed quickly, stay or go.

In 2007, The Times interviewed Dalglish and Torres together. Both had kind words for the other, the mutual appreciation clear.

Torres said: “I’m very proud that I’ve been able to spend time with him. And I’m honoured that he took the time to talk to me. Seeing someone like him makes me even more hungry to continue to work hard and, perhaps, some day, reach his level.”

You'll never make it now, Fernando. Not after this.

And what does Dalglish make of it all? We'll probably never know. But it's a fair bet his opinion has changed from that day four years ago.

Kenny concluded that interview speaking directly to Torres: “Fernando, this is a special club with special fans. They love people who love to wear their shirt. But they’re not daft, they know when it’s real and when it’s just for show, kissing the badge and all that. They love to identify with people on the pitch. And I think they will identify with you very, very easily.”

We did. We don't any more.

Let’s hear your thoughts on Fernando Torres leaving Liverpool FC for Chelsea on the comment box below.

Sources: This Is Anfield, Well Red

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The Good and the Bad of selling Fernando Torres

Cashing in Fernando Torres to fund rebuilding Liverpool can show no player is bigger than the club.

Football's most powerful clubs prosper by expelling those who no longer want to work there. The institution asserts its power over the individual. These partings can be painful, and appear calamitous, but there is always another talent out there to be hired. The club renews itself, the departing star is doomed one morning to retire.

On one seismic day on Merseyside, Liverpool rejected a £35million bid from Chelsea for Fernando Torres then had a £23million offer for Luis Suarez accepted. In between, it became apparent Torres was urging Liverpool to keep listening to Chelsea, thus displaying an urge to flee Anfield for Stamford Bridge. Later he submitted a written transfer request which was rejected. In any transfer caper, the point of no return is when the player departs in his head, leaving only his body to reach for the door.

Torres is a textbook case: wanted to leave in the summer – revived that hope in January, just like Darren Bent. And when Suarez was signed on the day Torres pressed his claim, Liverpool were either moving on by acquiring a replacement or offering their Spanish star a compelling new reason not to scarper, depending on your interpretation.

Either way Liverpool were recovering their poise, their authority. For too long Anfield has fretted over this or that player absconding, as if a club with five European titles suddenly existed only to stop big names running away. The loss of Xabi Alonso and then Javier Mascherano to Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively induced a kind of rolling terror on the Kop. Those sales left Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Steven Gerrard and Torres from the core of the indispensables who drove Rafa Benitez's best team to second in the Premier League with 86 points in May 2009.

When he signed, in July 2007, Torres boasted that his friends had been for You'll Never Walk Alone tattoos. In his first season he scored 33 times in 46 outings. Then he struck the winner for Spain at Euro 2008. If every centre-forward in the world bought his A game to a set of fixtures on any given day, surely Torres would be the sport's best No.9, ahead of Didier Drogba, David Villa, Diego Forlan, Samuel Eto'o, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the rest.

Yet this is secondary to the rehabilitation of Liverpool, where a section of fans have lost all civility and consideration in their dealings with the outside world. To them, debating forums are merely a platform on which to spray abuse. Those of us who see Anfield as a bulwark against the more unedifying features of the modern game hope the anger will soon subside and the humour return.

Liverpool in Dalglish's time as a player was not splenetic, as it is now, and he would not want it to remain so. One step to salvation is to employ only those who want to be there. Torres perked up when Dalglish took over but also when the January transfer window opened to offer an escape. Courted by Manchester City in the summer, El Nino stayed at Anfield reluctantly and was not sufficiently reassured by the Fenway Sports Group takeover to reject Chelsea's overtures.

Despite the recognition that Liverpool could block the move Torres believes an immediate departure is the best solution. If he were to join Chelsea, he would be eligible to play in the Champions League. He is hopeful of Liverpool recognising that his departure could be good for all concerned. Liverpool signed him for £22million; with a little bartering they could make more than £20million profit by selling now.

Players talk hogwash about leaving "to win things". They leave mainly for money and because they tire of sharing teams with colleagues they know to be inferior. At first selling Torres seemed unthinkable. Then it started to feel like part of the recovery.

Source: The Guardian UK

Should we still keeping the player who doesn’t want to play for our club? Leave your thoughts in the comment box below.

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Liverpool signs Luis Suarez for £23million

Liverpool Football Club announced on Friday afternoon that they had agreed a fee of up to 26.5million Euros with Ajax for the transfer of Luis Suarez, subject to the completion of a medical.

The Club have now been given permission by Ajax to discuss personal terms with the player and his representatives.

It has been speculated that Fernando Torres' rejected transfer request in the wake of Chelsea's £35million initial attempt to sign the Spaniard could have deterred Suarez from moving to Anfield.

But, in an interview prior to travelling to England on Saturday, the 24-year-old remained keen to sign for underachieving Liverpool and continued to rank the 18-time champions of England as a top-four club.

It remains to be seen whether Suarez partners Torres in attack, as Liverpool had planned, against Stoke at Anfield on Wednesday.

Torres is involved in an ugly standoff with his club after submitting a written transfer request late on Friday night, which overshadowed the agreed deal for Suarez.

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv, SKY SPORTS

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Liverpool left-back heading back to his former club

Liverpool are believed to be in advanced talks with Fulham over a possible return to Craven Cottage for left-back Paul Konchesky.

Konchesky has dropped out of the picture at Anfield in recent weeks following the appointment of Kenny Dalglish as manager.

The left-back was brought to Merseyside from the West London club in the summer by former Cottagers boss Roy Hodgson.

However, the defender has endured a difficult time in trying to win over the Reds fans and he has not played since Dalglish replaced Hodgson, with Glen Johnson starting in the left-back slot.

Fulham are now ready to offer Konchesky an escape route out of Anfield and a quick return to his former club by taking him on loan for the remainder of the season.

Mark Hughes is in the market for a new left-back, with Mexican defender Carlos Salcido reportedly failing to settle to life in England.

A number of clubs are thought to have made enquiries to ask about Konchesky's availability, but because he has already played for Fulham and Liverpool this season, the only club he can join during this month's transfer window is the Cottagers because of FIFA regulations.

Fulham are now hoping to reach an agreement with Liverpool to sign Konchesky before the transfer window closes on Monday.

This story has been reproduced from the media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

Sources: LiverpoolFC.tv, TeamTalk

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