Few clubs have had a deadline day as memorable and chaotic as Liverpool’s in January 2011. There had been an air of good feeling around Anfield despite a lacklustre start to the 2010/11 season under Roy Hodgson, which left them in seventh place by January.
But the hugely unpopular Hodgson was sacked and club legend Kenny Dalglish was appointed as manager until the end of the season. At the top, Fenway Sports Group, the current ownership, had just replaced Tom Hicks and George Gillett as owners.
But the good feeling was not to last as it emerged that Chelsea were keen to land fan-favourite Torres. The Spaniard, who had been a revelation when he arrived in 2007, with a 33-goal haul in his debut season, had grown restless.
Hamstring injuries and a knee operation in 2010 meant Torres had lost a yard of pace on the pitch, meaning his play had suffered despite scoring 22 goals in 2009/10. And while his name was still adoringly belted out by the Anfield faithful, the departure of manager Rafa Benitez, with whom he shared a close bond, and uncertainty with regards to the club’s ownership, meant his head had turned.
Torres tried to pledge his commitment to Liverpool in August 2010, saying: “My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed.”
The woeful performances under Hodgson soon ended that sentiment and Chelsea approached the Reds with a £40million offer on January 27. That was rejected by Liverpool, who insisted their star striker was not for sale.
A day later, Torres handed in a transfer request, which broke Liverpool fans’ hearts. On deadline day, Liverpool accepted a mammoth £50m bid, setting a new record for a British transfer and making Torres the sixth most expensive footballer in history at the time.
He signed a five-and-a-half year deal with the Stamford Bridge side, with the move to Liverpool’s direct Premier League rivals tarnishing his legacy at the club and resulting in him being booed in future fixtures.
Already anticipating the need for a replacement late in the window, Liverpool completed the signing of Luis Suarez from Ajax at around 9pm on deadline day in a deal worth £22.8m, making the Uruguayan the club’s most expensive signing.
But they were not content with just Suarez’s arrival, believing they needed a Premier League proven striker. Their own record was broken just a few hours later with minutes to go before the January 31st deadline, as the Reds completed a stunning £35m deal to sign Andy Carroll from Newcastle.
“It’s a dream to be able to come and play here,” said Suarez upon his arrival. “My ambitions for the future are to do my very best for Liverpool, to try to learn more about English football and to become a champion.”
Meanwhile, Dalglish spoke of how Carroll might fit in at the club after his sensational breakthrough at Newcastle that season: “He’s a big lad but is very good on the deck as well, he has good feet, he’s very strong in the air and he’ll give us a bit of presence up front.
“He’s a little bit different to what we’ve been used to but it won’t change our principles and philosophies of how we want to play.”
In total, there was over £100m spent in just a day on three strikers. Within a week, there was a glimpse of what was to come: Suarez scored on his Liverpool debut against Stoke, Torres struggled in his first Chelsea appearance – a defeat, inevitably, to Liverpool – while Carroll remained sidelined by a thigh injury.
Torres, despite scoring a crucial goal in the lead up to Chelsea’s 2012 Champions League final triumph, was hugely underwhelming in west London, while Carroll would score just 11 goals for the Reds before leaving for West Ham.
Suarez proved to be the true heir to Torres at Liverpool. The controversial striker would score 82 goals in 133 appearances, including 31 in his final season, before earning a big move to Barcelona in 2014.
