Liverpool's Pepe Reina has defended former team-mate Fernando Torres ahead of lining up to face Chelsea's new £50m striker at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Torres's transfer provoked anger from some fans, while Jamie Carragher said there was a feeling among the squad he had wanted to leave since the summer.
But, defending Torres, Reina stated: "Some say he is being disrespectful.
"But, in my eyes, what he gave was huge. He grew up with Liverpool, and Liverpool as a team grew up with him."
Torres, 26, further angered Liverpool supporters after leaving the club on transfer deadline day by saying that he felt a move to Stamford Bridge was a step forward for his career.
Yet Reina, a Spanish international team-mate of Torres, insisted that the former Atletico Madrid forward's decision was no longer relevant to Liverpool's future, repeating manager Kenny Dalglish's message that no one player is bigger than the club itself.
"Players come and go on a daily basis, but what stays is the club and the supporters," he said.
"That is the most important part to the club.
"It is football. It happens season after season, players come and go. Fernando was great for us in three-and-a-half seasons. He did everything for this club.
"Maybe he did not leave at the right time, but it was an opportunity for him. And £50m in the bank is double the price we paid for him.
"It is personal he decided to leave, he thought it was an opportunity for him to keep growing as a player and we have to respect that."
Reina also believes that Liverpool will always be capable of signing top players, a view supported by the recent capture of £35m club record signing Andy Carroll from Newcastle and £23m Luis Suarez from Ajax.
"Liverpool will always attract big players," he said.
"It is an historic club and one of the big four clubs in England and people will always want to come here."
Despite rising confidence after climbing to seventh with three wins in a row, Dalglish played down Liverpool's immediate prospects.
"Our ambition is to get as much as we can from the next game," said the manager. "It's the way I've been brought up. I don't see any need to change it.
"Of course, it's a difficult game. Chelsea is a good side - but I don't think we are too bad either.
"They will be looking at us and see that we are on the up. They will be as concerned about us as we are about them. To have won three on the spin with three clean sheets will give us a lot of confidence."
Torres, meanwhile, has promised Chelsea fans he is on the brink of recapturing the form that made him arguably the best striker in the world.
In his final four games for Liverpool, the Spaniard scored three times.
"In the last two months, I've been playing, if not at my best, close to my best," said the striker.
"I expect to be a bit better for the rest of the season. Last year was difficult with two surgeries on my knees. I needed time to recover. I did."
Despite saying he had a feeling Torres wanted to leave, Carragher also insisted he held no grudge against the Spaniard for moving.
And Torres said: "Hopefully I can play [on Sunday], and he can too.
"I would like to play against him because he's a top player. I like playing against the best, as I liked to play against John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.
"I'm expecting a hard game. I know he's a big Liverpool fan. As a footballer, I'm sure he understands my decision. Plenty of my ex-team-mates have congratulated me for this move."
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