Joe Cole admitted he was pinching himself at the prospect of working with Fernando Torres – as Jamie Carragher urged the Spaniard to deliver the news all Reds want to hear.
Torres returns to work at Melwood following his three-week summer break and though boss Roy Hodgson said last week that the striker will stay, his future continues to be discussed.
The England international is fully paid up member of the Torres fan club and is confident that, in time, the two will be dovetailing to devastating effect.
“One of the main reasons I came to Liverpool was because I wanted to play with these great players and I’m going to work every day to make Fernando as many chances as I can,” Cole said.
“I’ve been watching the way he plays ever since he came to the club and, the season before last, he was the best striker in the world, without a shadow of a doubt.
“I love playing with strikers who play on the shoulder of the last defender. The best striker I played with at Chelsea was (Hernan) Crespo; his movement was absolutely unbelievable.
“I had a good relationship with him and hopefully I will be able to have that kind of relationship with Fernando. My job is to make chances for the front men and I can’t wait to play alongside him.”
Those sentiments are echoed by Carragher and Liverpool’s vice-captain wants to see Torres follow Steven Gerrard’s lead and publicly reaffirm his commitment.
“Stevie is our best player. For me he’s probably the best player in the history of the club, alongside Kenny (Dalglish), so it’s given everyone a massive lift,” Carragher said.
“Hopefully Fernando will do the same and we can bring one or two more in so that we head into the season with a real feelgood factor.”
Liverpool’s final match before the big kick-off against Arsenal comes on Thursday when they host FC Rabotnicki in the second leg of their Europa League qualifier.
Even though they are leading 2-0 and practically assured of a place in the play-off round, Hodgson is likely to play most of his big guns and Cole is desperate to get another run out.
“We’ve only had 10 days training and it is amazing how much you have to do to get your fitness back – you play for 11 months then have four weeks off and you’re at square one,” said Cole.
“You would think it would be easy just to pick it up. That’s why on Thursday it’s vital we play close to 90 minutes. It’s important to get into the next round but just as important to boost our fitness.”
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