Reds rocked by Torres injury blow as striker races to be fit for big kick-off
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FERNANDO Torres may miss the first month of the Premier League season after a scan on the injury he sustained in the World Cup final showed he had ruptured muscle fibre in his left thigh.
The Liverpool striker underwent a magnetic resonance scan in Madrid on Tuesday. The Spanish national team's medical staff confirmed yesterday that the 26-year-old has a Grade One rupture in his adductor muscle.
Torres pulled up with just minutes to go in Spain's 1-0 win over Holland in Johannesburg on Sunday night, clutching his left leg.
Though Liverpool will this week have the injury assessed by their own doctors, early indications suggest Torres will be required to rest for three weeks.
Sources in Spain believe that Torres may then require a specialist programme of isolated training before he is ready to begin his delayed pre-season work.
Unlikely
The striker is highly unlikely to feature in Roy Hodgson's first Premier League game since replacing Rafael Benitez, at home to Arsenal on August 15, while the fixtures with both Manchester City and West Brom may also come too soon for him.
The injury, though, is not thought to be of sufficient severity to deter Chelsea's interest in the player. However, sources at Anfield remain bullish that the player will remain on Merseyside.
Liverpool are under no financial obligation to sell, despite the £237m debt incurred by owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
None of the 11 Liverpool players present in South Africa joined Hodgson and the rest of their team-mates on the journey to their pre-season training camp in Switzerland yesterday, though both Sotirios Kyrgiakos and Milan Jovanovic will link up with the squad in the Alps. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Rory Smith
Irish Independent
