It seemed at the start of summer, before his disappointing World Cup, that Fernando Torres was as good as gone from the Merseyside club. Huge bids being lined up by Chelsea and Man City made the task of keeping the Spaniard as likely as Liverpool winning the title in the upcoming season without him.

The good news for Liverpool is that these bids seem to have recently faded. Perhaps the saving grace for them was the fact that Torres failed to net a goal in the World Cup, a tournament that showcases the world’s best talents and sends the transfer window into a frenzy of lucrative bidding for any player who performs well. His ineffectiveness has seemed to detract interest in the superstar. Moreover, the groin injury he sustained in the final will have affected interest in the injury prone goal-machine. Where have the huge bids from the richest teams gone?

If Torres is to leave, there are obvious benefits for Liverpool; their huge debts will be cut with a price tag of up to £70 million for the 26-year-old. Money that is much needed to stop them plunging further into the red. However, for me, the negative consequences far outweigh the positives.

Firstly, there is the huge job of finding a suitable replacement that will help Liverpool in their pursuit of previous glory. A new signing would have to come; Liverpool’s depth of strikers is simply not strong enough to fill Torres’ boots. With previous targets David Silva and David Villa having both been snapped up by Manchester City and Barcelona respectively, there is no one close to the calibre of Torres that Liverpool could tempt or afford.

The appeal to sign for the club would drop if Torres signed elsewhere. Players want to join teams with world-class players, who look like they are capable of winning trophies. Liverpool’s recent lack of silverware means they can no longer rely on their reputation to attract players to Anfield. 

It is obvious that the best outcome for Liverpool is to keep the superb Spaniard but if Torres is to go, he needs to go as soon as possible. With a month left of the transfer window, the longer it is strung out, the harder it gets for new manager Roy Hodgson to make fresh signings in what would be an impossible attempt to compensate for the loss of their most lethal player.