Fernando Torres is ready to quit Liverpool in dismay at the club’s progress under new boss Roy Hodgson.
And big-spending Manchester City are already plotting a £50m January bid to put the Spain superstar out of his Anfield misery.
The World Cup winner feels the club has gone back on promises to invest in top quality players and is now looking for a way out.
Torres was hotly tipped to leave Liverpool in the summer after the Merseysiders failed to secure Champions League football under Rafa Benitez last season.
Barcelona, City and Chelsea all showed a major interest in the striker – but Torres insisted he wouldn’t make a decision on his future until after the World Cup in South Africa.
After Benitez’s departure and a lot of persuasion from Hodgson, the former Atletico Madrid man followed in skipper Steven Gerrard’s footsteps by deciding to stay at Liverpool.
The shock capture of Joe Cole and Hodgson’s promise of more major signings played a big role in persuading Torres to stay.
But the club has failed to follow up their swoop for ex-Chelsea star Cole with any other marquee names – a fact that has not gone unnoticed by the Spaniard.
The departure to Barcelona of Javier Mascherano – arguably the best defensive midfielder in world football – and their poor start to the season have also deeply concerned Torres.
All that, together with the club’s precarious financial state, has forced him to seriously reconsider his future.
Torres, 26, has come in for some early-season criticism for a string of below-par displays, with many questioning whether he actually wants to be at the club. Starsport understands that Torres’ representatives are already trying to engineer a move away from Anfield in the January window – particularly if the Reds’ quest to regain their Champions League status looks doomed.
And City chiefs have already made it clear that they are ready to smash their transfer record to bring the hitman to Eastlands.
Boss Roberto Mancini made Torres his No.1 summer target, but knew he would be facing an uphill struggle to lure the striker without the carrot of European Cup football.
But the Italian will renew his attempts to pull off the capture of Torres once the transfer window reopens.
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