The transfer rumours of the summer are an enjoyable way to pass the months before the new season starts. This summer, when it emmerged Liverpool were likely to capture Torres, a long term target of ours, whilst we were going to sign Tevez, I was delighted. Tevez had really shown what he was capable of in his final months at West Ham and really appeared to kind of player we would need to retain our title and go further in Europe.

There was a lot of talk about Torres long before the dippers got his signature, and on the the Republik of Mancunia forum, there was a thread dedicated to him. Some reds were extremely excited about the prospect of signing him. I wasn’t alone in expressing my concerns over how successful his transition to the Premiership would be. Diego Forlan and Fernando Morrientes are just two examples of strikers who couldn’t cut it in the Premiership, but were superstars in La Liga. The pace is much slower, the tackles are much lighter, so strikers have more time to score their goals, less pressure to work their magic. Whilst some strikers can prove to be a success in both leagues, a player who is proven is Spain has to go a long way to prove himself in England. Last season, Torres scored fifteen goals in forty appearances for Atletico Madrid, fourteen of those in the league. The season before, thirteen goals in forty appearances. Hardly a prolific goalscorer, and certainly not a player who Liverpool could argue was worth the £26.5 million yet. I was far happier with Tevez, a player who really seemed to suit the United way.

The partnership Tevez and Rooney are in the process of forming looks frightening, and the goal Tevez scored against Middlesbrough epitomised the quality we are seeing from the pair of them. He loves being at United, he loves us chanting Argentina, and with the six goals in the past eight games he’s played, it’s clear he loves scoring goals too!

Today, Sir Alex Ferguson has shed light on our potential Torres deal. “For years we tried to do a deal there but we never quite managed it because Atletico Madrid didn’t want to sell or the player felt he was too young one year,” said Ferguson. “Then we just lost interest a bit because sometimes you get fed up with going back to the same venue all the time. He’s a good player. We wouldn’t have been interested in him if he wasn’t. I think the advantage Rafa had was that he is Spanish and his dealings with Atletico were maybe better than ours because he’s Spanish.”

The Liverpool game approaches and a lot of the pre-match talk is focused around Torres. The general consensus is if we can control him and keep him out of the game, it will be far easier for us to collect the three points. This will certainly be a challenge for our defenders, but I’d like to think Tevez, Rooney and Ronaldo will be worrying the Liverpool defence more!

Who would you prefer? Tevez or Torres?