Mancini: we might have bought Torres

By The Gaffer on November 24, 2012

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has spoken of the club’s previous interest in a potential transfer for Fernando Torres. The rest, as the say, is history.

fernando torres

“Now he is at Chelsea, but two years ago we were looking at him,” Roberto Mancini said ahead of Manchester City’s visit to Chelsea. “Every striker can have a difficult moment, but Torres is a very good player. For me, he is always dangerous. Even though he had a tough year after leaving Liverpool he still scored some important goals for Chelsea. He helped them win the Champions League last season.

“We were looking at him and some other strikers as well, we particularly wanted someone who would be strong in the air.”

“There was a moment when we might have bought Torres but when we heard the price was so high we moved to one of our other targets and brought in Edin Dzeko instead.”

Torres will have been boosted by the arrival of new Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez, who seems to think the Spanish striker’s failings are predominantly down to confidence. It will be far more difficult than purely massaging the Euro 2012 Golden Boot winner’s ego; Torres looks down-trodden and has offered little this season.

Fernando Torres finds himself as the preferred no. 9 at Chelsea while he may have struggled to keep a starting spot at the Etihad.