Hodgson: Torres issue with the club, not me

(GSM) – Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson admits he cannot do much more to keep Fernando Torres at Liverpool as the latter is in dispute with the club over broken promises in the transfer market.

Torres has been strongly linked with a £50 million move to Premier League champions Chelsea and Hodgson admits that the damage has been done in the relationship between the Spanish player and the Anfield club.

“Unfortunately, I cannot do much more,” Hodgson said. “His beef is with the club and not me.

“Fernando’s situation has nothing to do with me, he made that perfectly clear over the phone during the World Cup and when I met him face-to-face.

“He knows what I would like to do with the club. He knows how much I value him.

“But his issues are with what has gone on in the past rather than the future.

“If he has problems with the club for things in the past, it is difficult for me to dismiss that.”

Torres has scored 72 goals in 116 games over three seasons with Liverpool. He has also been linked to Barcelona, who have already signed his Spain strike partner, David Villa.