SOCCER:Liverpool and Atletico Madrid have agreed a deal to take Fernando Torres to Anfield. Liverpool will pay fractionally less than the £27 million buy-out clause Torres has at the Vicente Calderon, leaving the 23-year-old striker to finalise personal terms before the move goes ahead.
Neither side anticipates major difficulties in closing the deal, with Liverpool understanding that any percentage of the transfer fee due to Torres must be paid by Atletico.
Luis Garcia is set to go in the other direction for almost £4 million but although his move facilitates negotiations on Torres and would bring down the cash price, the deals are not interdependent.
Liverpool paid £6 million for Garcia when he joined three summers ago but their manager, Rafa Benitez, is prepared to release him and Garcia is keen on a return to Spain to play for the club where he spent a successful season in 2002-03, scoring nine times in 30 games.
Although Atletico fans protested against the sale of Torres- the captain, standard-bearer and the player they have called "The Kid" since he made his debut at 16 - the club have decided it is time to cash in on their greatest asset.
"No one is irreplaceable," said their major shareholder, Miguel Angel Gil Marin. "We have to build a competitive team and no one player, however good he is, can achieve our objectives on his own. Last time I spoke to Fernando he said he was staying but I can't prevent him having a change of heart and I have to be prepared for that."
Atletico have previously had to withstand an offer from Tottenham and informal approaches from Chelsea for Torres, but agreed to drop Torres's buy-out clause from €90 million to €40 million this summer to facilitate a move.
They are keen on a cash injection and Torres has grown tired of waiting to fulfil his dream of playing in Europe for the club. He has always insisted he does not want to play for another Spanish team and is an admirer of the Premiership.
"If I left Spain I'd like to go to England, because it's interesting and because the way they play in Italy's not so attractive," he said 18 months ago.
Liverpool wanted to offer Djibril Cisse as part of the deal but the Frenchman rejected the move. Torres scored 14 league goals last season, taking him to 75 in five top-flight seasons.
Frank Lampard's Chelsea future was thrown into further doubt yesterday when he spoke of his dissatisfaction at the lack of agreement over a new contract. Barcelona are considering a bid of about £15 million for him and will have been given fresh hope by news of the England international's standoff with Chelsea.
"In an ideal world I would have done it [ signed the contract] three weeks ago but it is not an ideal world," the midfielder said.
"It feels strange. It is something I am trying to keep my mind off. You get on with it. I am not surprised by it because nothing surprises you in football.
"I have two years left on my contract at Chelsea. That's the way it is. They have no necessity to come and offer me anything so I just carry on and get on with it."
Like the captain, John Terry, Lampard's contract expires in 2009. Both have signalled their desire to remain at Chelsea but they are understood to want parity with the club's highest-paid players, Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, who earn about £130,000 a week. Lampard currently earns about £80,000 and Chelsea have offered about £110,000.
Jose Mourinho is optimistic Terry and Lampard will not leave and the greater certainty about the manager's own position has increased the likelihood of his "captains" staying.
"My mind at the moment is on going back pre-season with Chelsea, of course," said Lampard. "I said after the [ FA] Cup final that I wanted to stay but nothing has moved on from there."
The English Football Association will risk a legal challenge from the Association of Football Agents today when it publishes its new regulations over transfer middlemen. After 15 months there is still no agreement on the final draft.
Despite continued resistance from the agents' body the FA has pushed on and the regulations will come into force from September 1st, barring a successful courtroom challenge from the AFA.
