Fernando Torres: Is he worth the money?

[Christof]

As it seems, Chelsea bought F. Torres for 60 Mio Euros!
The matches i saw from Torres couldn't convince me that he's worth that much money... He has some good moments indeed, but i don't think he has the class to play constantly on a high level. Especially in the world cup, he didn't manage anything, lost the ball in dribblings and took some desperate attemps to score (and missed) instead of passing like everyone else in the team.

[jabarinho]

Honestly I never liked him in atletico madrid so when liverpool splashed out cash on him I was surprised. But he proved me wrong with his performances for liverpool. He is a goalscorer and his stats back it up. Very good stats for liverpool......so yes he is worth 60 mil euro.
And the no passing thing is no big deal. Scoring goals is what strikers are judged on and he knows it.

[samfs]

recently he hasn't been able to show his full level, and he had some sort of injury during the world cup, so it explains why he couldn't do well there. I think he's worth the money but he's gotta gain his confidence back and then he'll be a great

[Adi]

If Kaka costs 75 million, then Torres should cost at least 35 million.

You can't look at transfer fees normally anymore.  It's gotten too stupid and unpredictable.

If Torres can stay healthy, he's one of the best... no doubt about it.  I don't know what formation Chelsea will play though.  Are they planning on getting rid of Drogba this summer?

[TheKingNut]

Drogba is surely on the way out. I reckon they'll try and sign a younger striker this summer (Rossi?) and ship out Drogs. You what hes like though..he'll prob start banging in hat tricks every week

[jabarinho]

guiseppi rossi will probably cost another 40 million euro. Even if chelsea had the money FIFA's new financial fairplay rules will stop them from spending it. I think the rule is they have to break-even the spending and revenue to play in europe. So chelsea will most likely be selling players this summer......NOT buying. Also Drogba may be one of those to be sold.

[Buckwheat156]

when on form torres will be worth the money. he was incredible his first season for Liverpool and if he can replicate that and stay injury free hell be worth it. especially for a struggling chelsea

[Adi]

When will that financial rule go into play?  Has it even been passed?

Tom, yeah, I'm thinking Drogba is on the way out as well.  They should bring in Lakuka or whatever his name is - the tall kid that's supposed to be the new Drogba from Cluj.

[Adi]

The jerseys alone might be worth the money:

Chelsea's record £50million signing Fernando Torres is already king of the shirt sales – outselling his ­Liverpool replacement Andy Carroll by 250 jerseys to one.

Demand for Chelsea's new Torres home shirts are currently 40% higher than when he arrived at Anfield three years ago, according to suppliers.

Shirt sales for the Kop’s other new striker, Luis Suarez, are 380% more popular than Carroll replicas, but are still trailing behind Chelsea’s Spanish signing by 30 to one.

As of April 2010, Ronaldo, the player that cost Real Madrid £80 million had already generated an income of about £100 million in part by selling 1.2 million "Ronaldo 9" shirts in Madrid alone (repeat: only in Madrid, not counting the ones sold everywhere else in the world).

[jabarinho]

the financial fairplay rule comes into effect in the start of 2012. So it would not stop clubs playing in Europe in 2011-2012, but it will in 2012-2013. But the expenses and revenue must balance over a 2 year period. Which means spending from 2011 will be taken into account.
And I made a mistake in the last post.....its actually UEFA rules, not FIFA lol It got unanimous support from the whole UEFA decision committee on the matter. It was passed since last year and got support from most clubs in Europe, including Chelsea who then go out and spend 71 mil pound on torres and luiz even though they already have a deficit to work against.

[Adi]

Good!  This might actually help Bayern... we have been profitable for the last 20-30 years.

[Sule]

Gael Kakuta and Romelu Lukaku

Kakuta is Chelsea prospect, solid midfield general.
Lukaku is staying in Belgium(Anderlecht) to finish maturing as a player.  6'3, 94kg, and only 17yrs old.