Torres 2.0: Europe’s “best striker” is dreaming of signing for Liverpool

Whether it’s Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez or Luis Diaz, Liverpool’s central striking position has lacked something crucial this season. Arne Slot, without a doubt, has been left wanting.

And so have the rest of Merseyside’s red half. Liverpool are heading toward the Premier League title, with only the most startling of collapses enough to foil the Reds – who need to win four of their remaining nine fixtures.

Curiously, Understat record Liverpool to have created the highest xG (expected goals) of any outfit in the English top flight this year (72.90), having also outstripped their divisional rivals considerably with actual goalscoring numbers (69 goals; Manchester City are second in the scoring charts with 55).

Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.

So what’s the issue with the attacking Red arrows, then? Chiefly, Mohamed Salah‘s incredible campaign has seen him tally up a remarkable haul of 32 goals and 22 assists across all competitions, 27 and 17 in the Premier League alone.

The general wastefulness of Liverpool’s forwards will leave fissured memories, but this will no doubt be mitigated by the probable lifting of the league title.

Issues from the present term can be used as a springboard for future endeavours, but Liverpool do need a new number nine, someone who can emulate the club’s former greats – like Fernando Torres, for example.

Remembering Fernando Torres

Objectively speaking, Luis Suarez is the most talented striker Liverpool have ever yielded, certainly the most devastating in the modern era.

But there was just something about Torres. The Spaniard evokes the most dreamy memories: headband on, gliding run, fearsome striking ability. The movement. So silky and purposeful. He felt indestructible, unbeatable, at Anfield, and they loved him for it. Most still do.

Fans want that feeling again. Salah is one of the greatest forwards – if not the greatest – in Liverpool’s storied history, but he’s not a centre-forward. Even Roberto Firmino, so revered, so successful, was not really the free-scoring type.

Torres scored 81 goals and laid on 19 further assists across 142 matches in all competitions. His strike rate eclipsed all other clubs – and Spain – across his career. El Nino’s connection with the city was something different, and it would take a special striker to bring that back.

Nunez, cheerful and likeable and all the rest, can’t seem to shake his tactical maladies, can’t seem to find the rich vein needed to star as Liverpool’s star forward – and most expensive in history at that.

Liverpool need something new and better. In order to achieve that, landing someone to emulate the likes of Torres and Suarez, they may need to break the bank as never before.

Liverpool lining up the new Torres

Spanish sources have some interesting news regarding Alexander Isak. You may have heard of him. It’s claimed Newcastle United’s goalscoring general is interested in jumping ship this summer, with Liverpool leading the race.

Barcelona are interested. Financial mess notwithstanding, there are few reasons why any elite-level player worth their salt shouldn’t prioritise a move to Catalonia, but Liverpool are some institution themselves, and Isak is only willing to hear Camp Nou’s proposal should the Reds opt against a bid. As the report states, the in-demand talent is ‘dreaming’ of playing at Anfield.

A bid, however, would be constituted by a £150m payment. This is an audacious sum; it would make Isak, 25, both Liverpool and the Premier League’s most expensive player in history.

But Liverpool’s coffers are full. There is money to spend. There are few better ways in football to spend £150m than on this Swedish sensation, truth be told.

Why Liverpool should sign Alexander Isak

A comprehensive reshuffle of a title-winning frontline would be a reckless gambit, but Nunez is expected to depart and perhaps Diaz will too. It would make sense to keep Jota on the books, experienced and – for the lion’s share of his Liverpool career – deadly in front of goal.

But Liverpool fans have been treated to Isak’s prowess on several occasions this term and it has only magnified the need for something new – him, preferably.

The cost would be steep; some would call it extreme. However, Isak is the best of the best, proclaimed to be “the best striker in the Premier League” by Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher. Indeed, teammate Anthony Gordon admitted he could be the “best striker in Europe“.

Below, you can remind yourself of the Sweden star’s catalogue from 2023/24. You best believe there have been some new additions since last summer.

There’s little doubt he has what it takes to become a superstar on Merseyside, with the kind of completeness that Slot could make perfect use of.

Aged 24, Isak’s best days may well sit ahead of him too. He’s improved in seasonal increments since joining Newcastle from Real Sociedad in a club-record £63m deal almost three years ago.

Like Torres, the 6 foot 3 Isak made his name in Spain. The retired nine joined Liverpool from Atletico Madrid for about £20m in 2007. He was 23 and – like Isak at Sociedad – had demonstrated high-level qualities that had not yet been fully developed.

Isak hit 50 Premier League goals in just 76 appearances, taking marginally longer than Torres, who did it in 72. It’s not quite Erling Haaland (or Salah, for that matter), but it puts both at the highest table.

But there’s more. Isak’s stylistic approach offers shades of an in-prime Torres. The Magpies man ranks among the top 4% of strikers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for goals, the top 18% for assists, the top 9% for shot-creating actions and the top 8% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.

Both tall and agile players, both endowed with blistering speed and an innately easy manner in front of goal, there’s every reason FSG should throw the kitchen sink at St. James’ Park this summer.

You can see why Liverpool – and Barcelona and Arsenal and Manchester United and more – are all so keen on the maverick. Hardly just a goalscorer, Isak gets involved, works tirelessly and effectively. He’s the real deal, very much good enough to sit alongside the likes of Torres in Liverpool’s pantheon.

The Liverpool supporters are a firebrand lot, passionate for their team, its success. It’s a measure of Liverpool’s brilliance over the past decade that the anticipated triumph in the Premier League carries a slight air of ruefulness.

With Isak at the bow of the ship, there’s every chance Slot’s project can rise to the next level next season. With the spirit of Torres returned Liverpool may know no bounds.