Barcelona midfielder Javier Mascherano has hit out at Liverpool for the way they handled his and Fernando Torres’s exits – even though he left the club of his own choice.
Following Torres’s £50 million transfer to Chelsea, Mascherano has been quoted as saying that Torres is better off at Stamford Bridge:
“I was not surprised about what happened with Fernando,” Mascherano was quoted on espn.co.uk as telling a press conference yesterday. “It is sad that the press and the club try to convince people that it is all the player’s fault when the reality is that Liverpool didn’t show the interest in keeping us in the club. The most important players didn’t leave the club well. I spoke with Fernando and I said to him that he doesn’t have to be worried because he did his best for the club. Even though he didn’t win any trophies, he was a very important player and helped this club all the time.”
You have to take Mascherano’s words with a grain of salt considering that he was offered a new contract by then Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez last April but stalled on signing it.
It was four months later, after it became apparent he did not want to remain at Anfield that Liverpool sold him to Barcelona for £22million.