Football Talk - I'll quit if Torres is sold - Benitez - 17/11/09
Rafael Benitez has revealed he would be prepared to leave Liverpool if striker Fernando Torres was sold against his will. The club's debts have prompted questions about whether owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett would be tempted by a big-money offer for the Spain striker.
But Benitez told the Times that there was no prospect of the striker leaving. "I'm confident it will never happen,'' he said. "If it did, I'd resign.''
Benitez has frequently complained about his inability to compete with the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea in the transfer market. And while the Spanish boss admitted the situation had led him to make some mistakes, he defended his record in the transfer market.
"When we have spent big, normally it's been very good business,'' he said. "Torres, [Javier] Mascherano, [Pepe] Reina, [Xabi] Alonso. [Robbie] Keane is a good player but we had to sell him because he was not playing at the level we knew he could play. [Ryan] Babel was signed for the future and we are waiting for his improvement. He has to be more consistent.
"With the fringe players, we needed to take a gamble on Bosmans and one, two million-pound players. Some of these players have not been good enough for us. It is a risk you have to accept when there is not too much money about.''
Benitez defended the signing of midfielder Alberto Aquilani, who was bought for from Roma to replace Alonso after the Spain international joined Real Madrid in the summer, but is only now reaching fitness after injury problems.
"We can only buy one or two big, £20 million players a year,'' Benitez said. "If we want to have money available then we have to sell some players. We have to sell expensive and buy as cheaply as possible. Aquilani fit would be £20-30 million. We checked with doctors and they said he would be out one, maybe two months. We have lost some time, but I signed the player for five years, not five weeks.''
