Rafael Benitez would resign if Fernando Torres was sold by Liverpool. Photograph: Clive Rose/Getty Images
Rafael Benítez said last night that he would quit if Fernando Torres is sold against his will. Liverpool's £245m debt has led to questions about whether their US owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, would be tempted to sell, even if he was offered £100m for the striker.
"I'm confident it will never happen," the manager said. "If it did, I'd resign."
The financial situation at Liverpool means they struggle to compete at the top end of the market and Benítez admitted that that had led to him making mistakes. "When we have spent big, normally it's been very good business," he told The Times. "Torres, [Javier] Mascherano, [Pepe] Reina, [Xabi] Alonso.
"[Robbie Keane] is a good player but we had to sell him because he was not playing at the level we knew he could play. Ryan [Babel] was signed for the future and we are waiting for his improvement. He has to be more consistent. With the fringe players we needed to take a gamble on Bosmans and one-, two-million pound players. Some of these have not been good enough. It is a risk you have to accept when there is not too much money about."
Benítez also defended his signing of the Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani, bought for £17m from Roma in the summer to replace Alonso, but only now reaching fitness after making his league debut in the recent draw with Birmingham.
"We can only buy one or two big, £20 million players a year," Benítez said. "If we want to have money available then we have to sell some players. We have to sell expensive and buy as cheaply as possible. Aquilani fit would be £20m to £30m. We checked with doctors and they said he would be out one, maybe two months. We have lost some time but I signed the player for five years, not five weeks.
"Xabi put in a transfer request," he added. "We had a professional and good relationship. Some people say the manager must put his arm around the player's shoulder. I don't know too many managers who do this. Some managers in England don't even see the training sessions."
Benítez now feels confident that Liverpool will begin to climb from seventh. "People are worried but the team will improve. When we have key players on the pitch we are as good as anyone. We have proved this in the past."
