For a couple of season's it looked like the partnership that might finally lead Liverpool to that all important Premier League title. Steven Gerrard in his prime linking up with Fernando Torres at his devastating best, it seemed like a matter of time before the squad was filled in around those two and the title would be coming to Anfield.
It didn't quite work out. Alonso left, Mascherano left, Torres' form dipped and eventually he left for Chelsea. Liverpool fans were unhappy, the feeling for Torres became something more akin to pity but there was always a sense of what if.
What if he had stayed at Liverpool, recovered his form and linked up with Gerrard once more? However, he didn't. He went to Chelsea and it seems Steven Gerrard may have played a part in that.
Speaking to Atletico Madrid's Foundation, Torres revealed how Gerrard encouraged him to join Chelsea in 2011, something which will undoubtedly come as a surprise to many Liverpool fans.
There is one player that influenced me above anyone else and that is Gerrard. He changed my career, my ambition, the way of raising my targets, wanting to win, he changed everything.
Even when I was leaving Liverpool he told me ‘go, think about yourself. Do what’s best for you because you’ve seen how people are leaving and it’s time. You have nothing to prove.’
Torres may credit Gerrard with helping him to move on but, given how that move turned out, you can't help but wonder if it would have been better for everyone if Gerrard had kept the good guy routine to himself.
Here's the full interview which was conducted as part of Atletico's involvement with ALS research. You can see more about it here.
