FERNANDO TORRES FEELING PAIN IN SPAIN

FERNANDO TORRES will remain in Spain for the next 48 hours as Liverpool fret over the knee injury that could limit his involvement over the remainder of their season.

Striker Torres will stay in Barcelona until Thursday with eminent Spanish doctor Ramon Cugat for another scan
on his right knee which had surgery on it in January.

He missed Sunday’s damaging 0-0 stalemate with Fulham and faces having to pick and choose his games
between now and the end of the campaign as he seeks to manage his fitness.

Torres will be anxious to face his boyhood club Atletico Madrid in the Europa League semi-finals,
having missed out on an emotional reunion last season.

Liverpool head to Madrid next Thursday for the first leg before the return at Anfi eld a week later and, with fourth place in the Premier League now realistically beyond Rafa Benitez’s side, Torres may target trying to get the club into the Europa League fi nal on May 12. He was examined by Cugat at his clinic yesterday and a Liverpool spokesman said: “Fernando received treatment and will continue to do so over the next few days, with the injury being reassessed later this week.”

Spain star Torres was sidelined for five weeks after undergoing a cartilage operation following the FA Cup
defeat by Reading in January and he is understandably concerned about the injury with the World Cup looming.

While Liverpool face an anxious wait over the fitness of Torres, co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett
remain poised to formally announce that Barclays Capital are to oversee the sale of the club.

They will also confirm the appointment of British Airways chairman Martin Broughton as Liverpool’s new
independent chairman.