There's no denying that £35 million for Andy Carroll was a fee that turned heads on the final day of the transfer window — double what many considered the young English striker's value. Selling Fernando Torres for £50 million, though, may have actually been a considerably crazier transaction, given the Spaniard's form over the past 18 months, and given the £15 million net profit from the two deals, Liverpool owner John Henry believes that the Reds won out on the frenzied final day of transfers.
"The fee for Torres was dependent on what Newcastle asked for Carroll,'' Henry told the Guardian.
"The negotiation for us was simply the difference in prices paid by Chelsea and to Newcastle. Those prices could have been £35million [from Chelsea for Torres] and £20million [to Newcastle for Carroll], 40 and 25 or 50 and 35. It was ultimately up to Newcastle how much this was all going to cost. They [Newcastle] made a hell of a deal. We felt the same way," he said.
Henry, in fact, was shocked that Chelsea was willing to pay so much money for Torres, given the club's financial woes.
"I was surprised Monday morning to receive an offer [from Chelsea for Fernando Torres] in that amount [£50 million] at the same time they were announcing such large losses [£71million for 2009-10],'' Henry said.
Considering the sale of Ryan Babel and the acquisition of Luis Suarez, Liverpool spent and sold nearly identical sums in January.
"We've always spent money we've generated rather than deficit-spending and that will be the case in Liverpool,'' Henry explained. "It's up to us to generate enough revenue to be successful over the long term. We have not and will not deviate from that.''
