However the Torres of today is not in the free scoring form that he showed in previous seasons at Liverpool or former club Atletico Madrid. Are Chelsea gambling on a player that has past his best or can they expect Torres to revitalise his career at Stamford Bridge.

Castrol Performance data shows what we already know, that Torres is currently having his worst season since arriving in the Premier League four years ago with an average ratio of 0.39 goals per game, his worst in fact since signing for Liverpool.

His proneness to injury has always been a problem since he emerged as an exciting youngster in Madrid and he has not played more than 24 games a season since 2008/9. He is likely to improve on that this season having already featured in 23 games so far.

Chelsea will be buoyed by the fact that Torres has however scored more frequently than any other player in the history of the Premier League with one goal every 121 minutes, he is also the most prolific scorer in the top flight since 2007/8, with 65 goals, ahead of Carlos Tevez (57) and Dimitar Berbatov (55).

Top 5 -  Minutes per goal – Premier League

With Chelsea currently ten points behind Premiership leaders Manchester United it is fair to assume that the Londoners focus from here on in will be on the Champions League and FA cup and it is in the knock out stages of the former where Torres is likely to shine.

From the last 16 onwards, Torres has scored five goals in 10 games, that’s a rate of one goal every two games, an impressive return given the pedigree of sides is higher than in the group stages. With Chelsea facing relative minnows FC Copenhagen in the last 16, Torres will be expected to make a quick impression.

Life after Fernando Torres

Liverpool fans meanwhile can be reassured that there is life after Fernando Torres, his departure from Atletico Madrid may have left the fans crying in their Sangria in 2007, but ronically the signing of Luis Suarez’s Uraguy International partner Diego Forlan soon made ‘El Nino’ a distant memory.

Diego Forlan scored a staggering 32 goals in 33 games during his first season at Atletico.

The January Transfer Window was opened early doors when Manchester City paid something in the region of £27 million to Wolfsburg for Bosnian international striker, Edin Dzeko. But unless I’ve forgotten something, nothing much more of note happened until last week when Liverpool announced their bid to buy Uruguay International striker Luis Suarez from Ajax for around £23 million.

Suarez had a great World Cup following a season as top scorer in the Dutch league.  I enjoyed watching Suarez in the World Cup and was surprised he wasn’t tempted to the Premier League last August. However, being a top scorer in the Holland doesn’t automatically equate to success in the Premier League.  Serbian international Mateja Kežman was the top goal scorer for PSV Eindhoven when he was brought to Chelsea by Jose Mourinho but never made the grade.  He is currently playing his football in the Hong Kong League; and Dirk Kuyt was top scorer for Feyenoord when Liverpool bought him in 2006 (though to be fair to Kuyt Liverpool have rarely used him as a centre forward!)

After the debacle of the Liverpool Tom Hicks & George Gillette ownership, the signing of Luis Suarez by new owner John W. Henry must have had Liverpool fans believing the club was at last back on track and the beginning of a new era of prosperity with King Kenny Dalglish back as manager.  But no sooner had a partnership between Suarez and Fernando Torres been discussed, Chelsea threw a giant and somewhat surprising spanner in the works by offering an official bid to buy Torres with only four days of the January Transfer Window to go.

Liverpool rejected the initial bid out of hand but what possibly happened behind-the-scenes was they told Chelsea the door of negotiation was open, but only at a price. To speed things along and change the goalposts slightly, Fernando Torres showed his hand by stating he was interested; a move that later became an official transfer request.  At this stage the scene had been set.  If Chelsea were prepared to pay the asking price, Liverpool were prepared to sell their star striker.

This created a chain reaction.  Liverpool had a player who hadn’t performed consistently well for over a year and now had the chance to cash-in on Chelsea’s offer but with a squad that was just about to lose one third of their World Class talent, they needed to bring in a replacement, quickly.

Andy Carroll has all the potential to become a World Class striker but is currently only a ‘potential’ talent when given a £35 million + price tag.  Because Newcastle were not keen on losing their new local hero, it was only going to happen this January with an inflated price.  And it did!

With a late flurry of big money moves, there was a record spend of well over £200 million in this January Transfer Window.

Winners and losers?
Chelsea needed to strengthen their squad last summer when they failed to replace first team players such as Michael Ballack, Deco, Joe Cole and Ricardo Carvalho.  In the past couple of seasons they have relied too heavily on Cech, Terry, Lampard and Didier Drogba.  The acquisition of Fernando Torres and the excellent last minute signing of Brazil international defender David Luiz from Benfica prove Roman Abramovich is once again prepared to spend big money.  Stamford Bridge will be all smiles and no sacking of the manager as long as they qualify for next season’s Champions League, preferably as this season’s winners.

I believe Liverpool have done well by this month’s merry-go-round.  Effectively they have swapped one out-of-form striker for two strikers hungry to prove themselves.  Like Chelsea, it also proves a turning point in Liverpool’s recent history, as a club prepared to spend big money to buy success.

With Blackpool managing to hang on to their captain and talisman Charlie Adam by their fingernails, if only until the summer, the main losers are Newcastle United who lost their star asset too late in the January Transfer Window to complete a deal to replace him.

It was no coincidence that King Kenny Dalglish was appointed caretaker manager just days before Liverpool was set to play old rivals Manchester United at Old Trafford in the FA Cup 3^rd Round and ahead of their next home game, the Merseyside derby, against their other staunch rivals, Everton.

Unfortunately, what could have been a fantastic return for Dalglish for his second spell as Liverpool manager was spoilt by a dramatic penalty within the first 30 seconds of the match followed by a two-footed lunge that had Captain Fantastic Steven Gerrard sent-off after 30 minutes.  But Liverpool battled on and showed more determination and commitment than they have done for quite some time.  Remember, this run of bad results and poor performances didn’t start when Roy Hodgson was appointed last summer.

Kenny Dalglish made no secret of the fact that he wanted to the job of Liverpool manager at the end of last season.  But the risk he is taking is that he returns to the Anfield hot seat as one of the most successful Liverpool managers of all time, and is quite rightly adorned as a Liverpool Legend as both player and manager.  But the 2011 squad he has inherited is a poor one, nothing like the squad of 1985 when he took over as player/manager and won the FA Cup & League double for the first time in Liverpool’s history in his first season in charge.

Dalglish has been working behind the scenes at Liverpool since 2009, so I’m confident he has a good understanding of the problems he faces.  It is pretty clear Liverpool need to have a good clearout of players that are not good enough for the Premier League. If this is done correctly with a long term plan in place then Kenny Dalglish may be the man to put Liverpool back on track.  If he doesn’t succeed then like Kevin Keegan’s return to Newcastle, questions will be asked as to whether he should have returned in the first place.

The appointment today of former Chelsea, Newcastle & West Ham coach, Steve Clarke, is certainly a positive one.  I was surprised when Chelsea let Steve Clarke go following the sacking of Jose Mourinho and can see Dalglish and Clarke forging a great double act.  But with a third of the January Transfer Window already gone it will be interesting to see if Liverpool make any new signings or King Kenny can motivate a poor squad enough to get them to finish the season by qualifying for a place Europe next season.  Surely that is the minimum requirement.

As for Roy Hodgson, there are a few vacant managerial posts currently available and no doubt some of those teams would be keen to offer Hodgson the opportunity to resurrect his career in management.  However, I wouldn’t be surprised in Roy Hodgson decideds to avoid a return to management altogether and enjoys an early retirement or possibly the comfort of a studio seat rather than the dugout.

Robert Pires

Free agent Robert Pires looks set to complete an unlikely but most welcome return to the Premier League this week when he signs for Aston Villa.

The 37 year old helped Arsenal to two Premier League titles and three FA Cups during his time with the North Londoners as well as collecting a World Cup winners medal and European Championship medal with France in 1998 and 2000 respectively.

Pires joined Spanish club Villareal from Arsenal in 2006 and despite a long term absence through injury in his first season in La Liga, the Frenchman became a firm favourite with the ‘yellow submarine’ fans during his time in Spain.

Testament to his fitness levels the player has continued to thrill fans with his clever footwork regardless of age and although he was often used as substitute in his later years at Villareal he has never looked out of his depth against younger players.

He was released in the summer and was most recently linked with Conference club Crawley Town.

Pires is set to join Aston Villa before this weekend and it will be great to see him back in England in the Premier League.

yaya toure

Yaya Toure has confirmed that he has joined Manchester City from La Liga champions Barcelona after being told that he was surplus to requirements at the Catalan club.

A reported fee of £24 million will change hands as City at last make the signing that they have been chasing over the last season or so.

Toure will join fellow La Liga player David Silva who was announced as a Manchester City player this week. He will also join up with his brother, the former Arsenal player Kolo Toure who is now installed as captain at Eastlands.

City manager Roberto Mancini said;

“Everyone knows Yaya is a player that we have admired for a long time, we would like to welcome him to Manchester City. He has played at the top level with Barcelona and I am sure his experience and ability will be very important for us.”

The Eastlands club have now spent around £60million already this summer, securing the services of Yaya, Silva and German defender Jerome Boateng, clearly looking to build on last seasons disappointing fifth place finish.

David Silva to join Man City

It was inevitable that La Liga crisis club would have to cash in on on their two star players sooner or later, personally I expected David Villa and David Silva to move on after the success of  Spain in the European Championship.

But somehow the club managed to hang onto them despite the debt problems reported at Valencia. Things changed at the end of this season and Villa promptly signed for Barcelona (where else), but Silva has been linked with several top clubs including City and Chelsea during recent weeks and admitted a few weeks ago that he fancied the challenge of the Premier League.

I have long been an admirer of the little midfielder and while not an Arsenal supporter always thought he would make an excellent signing for the North London club.

But it appears that he has decided to join City, leaving his agent to negotiate the deal while the player is in South Africa hoping to help Spain lift the World Cup.

A fantastic naturally gifted player who pushes forward at pace, Silva is an exceptional signing for the Manchester club and if they can keep him fit he will surely prove to be one of the club’s most significant signings.

The United manager was equally excited to announce that his team have agreed to sign the young Mexican striker Javier Hernandez from Chivas Guadalajara for an undisclosed fee.

Hernandez passed a medical at Old Trafford this week and has agreed personal terms with the club although the deal is subject to the player getting a work permit.

The 21 year old has scored four goals in his four senior internationals for Mexico and is likely to be in the Mexican squad that faces England at Wembley on May 24th.

Subject to the work permit Hernandez will officially join Manchester United on July 1st. Ferguson said of the signing;

“I am delighted to have reached a deal to sign such an exciting young striker. He has been in prolific form for both his club and his country. He will be a great addition to our squad and we look forward to welcoming our first Mexican player in the summer.”

As part of the agreement Manchester United have agreed to play in the opening game of Chivas new stadium in Guadalajara as part of their pre season friendly programme.

“We are one of the ten best clubs in Europe and players who strengthen our team at that period of the season are not available, or at a price we cannot afford.” Arséne stated.

I nearly spat out my coffee. Not to offend fans of Arséne himself, but that’s truly a poor excuse for his lack of involvement in the recent transfer season.

He claims that the amount of money he is allowed to allocate his players is simply too low to attract any good footballers. But surely a £90k a week wage is enough to buy at least a decent striker?

Instead of trying to reason with his board, he’s been trying desperately to gain players like Maraouane Chamkh, and I have no doubt that he was heartbroken when, just hours ago, Chamakh himself said he was not prepared to move, at least not yet.

Many Arsenal fans, alongside non-supporters, are sceptical whether or not Arséne has performed well as manager this season.

Among these are many that also believe that Arsenal are in dire need of fresh new additions to their line-up, especially after Michael Ballack criticized Arsenal’s style of play, describing them as ‘predictable’.

At least Arsenal fans can rest assured that key player Cesc Fábregas, will not be transferring to Barcelona any time soon, despite recent rumours of his leave before the World Cup as Wenger has repeated stated that he still has ‘four years left on his contract’, and he is not prepared to sell him.

Although I deeply respect Arséne for the amount he’s done for Arsenal with so little money, I can’t help but think he’s only looking to buy stars, instead of looking for raw talent.

Arsenal have to adhere to their strict £90,000 a week rule, regardless of whoever the player may be. This means even their top players (Gallas, Arshavin), are on this.
Yet I think, although he might not be able to purchase a top-end player like Lionel Messi, he could definitely reel in some talent with that budget.

And besides, I think another small Arshavin-like player is not what Arsenal needs. What Arsenal needs is a large, powerful striker, to provide Arsenal with that muscle that the team sometimes lacks.

Even if his eyes are only on big names, surely he could sell some players that, frankly, just aren’t up to Arsenal standard (Walcott, Vela), and make an exception to bring in some world-class talent.

However, Arséne is adamant that his budget limit is necessary for the club to function healthily, and I think many people (including myself) respect the fact that he is cautious with his money, as we’ve all seen the effects of excessive spending with Portsmouth’s near-bankruptcy.

Anthony Duong
Guest Writer from GenXXL.com

chelsea fc

Chelsea have had their transfer ban suspended pending a final decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport  (CAS) following an appeal against the sentence handed out by FIFA over the clubs dealings in the Gael Kakuta affair with French club Lens.

CAS said that the sanctions would be stayed until a final decision is reached by the arbitrator, although no final date has been given. The decision means that it may be possible for Chelsea to sign new players in the January transfer window unless CAS issue their decision saying otherwise.

Under the original punishment handed out by FIFA, Chelsea were banned from transfer activity in the two transfer windows in 2010. The young player Kakuta was ordered to pay compensation to Lens of 780,000 euros for which Chelsea were jointly responsible, the club also paid 130,000 euros as ‘training compensation’ to the French club.

That spells out bad news for Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester United who have recently threatened to sue the French club Le Havre over similar allegations of inducements to the parents of Paul Pogba, to bring the player to the UK.

Perhaps assuming that attack is the best form of defence United have become quite verbal over the allegations since the ban was placed on Chelsea. However the Premier League champions are likely to face similar charges from Italian club Fiorentina who are currently considering making a formal complaint over the signing of 16 year old Michele Fornasier.

They may still face charges over the signings of  Federico Macheda who joined from Lazio when he was 16, and another defender, Alberto Massacci, signed from Empoli this summer.

Manchester City are the latest Premier League club to be accused of wrong doing, in their 2008 signing of Jeremy Helan from another French club, Rennes who have confirmed that they have made a formal complaint to FIFA.

Sepp Blatter says the recent action taken against Chelsea is just the start:

“We have to protect the young players. There are many cases on our desk at FIFA. We have one we have settled but there are clubs looking at their books who have already announced that such and such player has no contract with them or is an amateur.

The case we decided was one with a player going from France to England. The clubs take 14 or 15-year-olds and say their parents are coming with them. But they don’t and the players are placed with other families. Then what happens to these players?

Only one in 15 or 20 goes through, so we have to protect them and their futures. Most of these cases we have are from Africa to Europe or South America to Europe. The president of the Brazilian Federation even told me recently I have to stop the exodus of young players.”