The international break has been filled with nostalgia for Liverpool fans, as Fernando Torres finally returned to Anfield.
Torres remains a somewhat divisive figure in recent Liverpool history. While some have moved past the nature of his 2011 move to Chelsea, others will seemingly never forgive the Spaniard’s betrayal.
Nevertheless, Torres returned for the LFC Legends game against Ajax last Saturday. And, of course, he scored. Click here to find out what the 40-year-old did after getting a goal in front of the Kop for the first time in 13 years.
As part of the legends match, the participating players trained at Liverpool’s AXA Training Centre. Torres himself showed that he’s still got it with footage showing him scoring some amazing goals just before the game.
But he wasn’t just sticking his boots on and running around. Torres was also conducting interviews at the AXA. With his reconciliation with the club in full swing, Liverpool’s official X account today posted a video of one of those interviews. And it includes a question that every fan has been mulling over for over a decade.
Fernando Torres makes Luis Suarez claim
It remains a quirk in Liverpool’s recent history that two iconic players of their modern era were at the club together for just one day. As Torres waited in the metaphorical Anfield departure lounge on January 31st 2011, Luis Suarez passed him in arrivals.
The two players have similar legacies with the Reds. Both scored plenty of goals for Liverpool and were among the best players on the planet during their time on Merseyside.
However, the pair each left under a bit of a cloud and aren’t as fondly remembered as perhaps they should be.
Nevertheless, there’s no denying the quality Torres and Suarez brought on their day. If the former Spain international could have just hung around a bit longer, we may have got to see a truly special partnership form.
And that’s obviously something that eats at Torres a little, too. Asked what it would have been like to have played with Suarez, the up-and-coming young manager admitted to having thought about it.
“I’ve always been thinking to myself that it would be amazing to play with a player like him,” says El Nino. “He was coming to Europe full of energy and I think it could work.”
Who had a better record for Liverpool – Torres or Suarez
When discussing Torres and Suarez with Liverpool fans, there’s always the caveat that neither won anything much of note with the club and both left too early.
Prior to the Jurgen Klopp era though, they were two of the best players to have represented Liverpool in the 21st century. Even with the plethora of talent Klopp’s had at his disposal, they’re both still up there.
But although Torres possibly had a bigger reputation while with the Reds, Suarez actually outscored him. The Uruguayan bagged 82 goals in 133 games, finding the net once in every 1.62 matches. Torres meanwhile got 81 in 141, or a goal every 1.74 games.
Had they played together, you could imagine Liverpool would have had more than a single League Cup to show for their Anfield careers. Oh, what could have been.