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Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich forced Liverpool transfer with ‘crazy money’ - Craig Burley
CHELSEA owner Roman Abramovich went against the wishes of former manager Carlo Ancelotti to sign Fernando Torres back in 2011.
Chelsea: Abramovich FORCED Torres transfer reveals Burley
That is according to ESPN FC pundit and former Chelsea midfielder Craig Burley.
Torres joined the Blues from Liverpool in January 2011 for a then club-record fee of £50million.
The Spaniard struggled to settle at Stamford Bridge and failed to live up to his hefty price tag.
Following the arrival of Gonzalo Higuain to Chelsea this week, Burley was discussing recent strikers to don the blue shirt.
Ancelotti, who was the manager at the time, didn’t want Fernando Torres
And he revealed how Abramovich forced a move for Torres despite Ancelotti not wanting him.
“Fernando Torres was over the hill,” Burley said.
“Ancelotti, who was the manager at the time, didn’t want Fernando Torres.
“But Roman Abramovich and his henchmen went out and gave Liverpool crazy money for him.”
Meanwhile, Burley reckons the arrival of Higuain puts pressure on the creative players at Chelsea.
"It does put a huge pressure back on Eden Hazard now and also Willian or Pedro or [Callum] Hudson-Odoi who play on the other side, if he doesn’t go to Bayern Munich," he said.
“We’ve talked about Jorginho a lot but when teams start sitting people on him, he’s like a crab isn’t he, he’s passing it sideways, let’s be frank.
“And then you’ve got N’Golo Kante who’s not going to be creative. He’ll run around and he’ll work.
“[Mateo] Kovacic is not having a great time, [Ross] Barkley’s been in and out. So all the supply has to come from the two wide positions.
Chelsea: Higuain signing ‘DOESN’T solve problems’ says Burley
“Higuain’s not going to do it himself, he’s not that type of player. He’s a penalty-box striker.
“It then has to come from Hazard and A. N. Other who is playing on the other side.
“That puts a lot of pressure on them because there’s not a lot of creativity in that Chelsea midfield three, there’s not a lot of box-to-box running in that midfield three.
“So that piles the pressure onto that front three that I’m talking about.”
Higuain could make his Chelsea debut on Sunday in the FA Cup fourth round clash against Sheffield Wednesday.