Sale? I’m more worried about Torres’ knee — Rafa

LIVERPOOL manager Rafael Benitez insists he is more concerned about the fitness of striker Fernando Torres than he is by the news the club has been put up for sale.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett have announced their intention to sell up, having struggled to find the necessary investment to reduce their £237m (€270m) debt.

British Airways chairman Martin Broughton has been appointed to a similar position at Liverpool to oversee the sale with advice from Barclays Capital.

Benitez has yet to meet Broughton, who has said he wants the Spaniard to remain in charge, but when he does he will be armed with a list of things he feels are required to re-establish the club as title contenders.

“It seems the club is moving forward and so that is positive,” said Benitez.

“It is important for the club to move forward. It could be good news. It is positive he said he wants me to stay but I’ve not spoken to him yet so in our first meeting we can talk about everything.

“I am sure we will have a very good conversation about the present and the future but at the moment I am more concerned about things like Torres.”

Torres’ knee problem forced him to miss last weekend’s goalless draw against Fulham as he flew to Barcelona to see Dr Ramon Cugat, the surgeon who operated on him in January.

After returning for Thursday’s Hillsborough memorial service he was due to return to Spain for a further examination only to be grounded by the closure of British airspace due to the cloud of volcanic dust.

Benitez wants him to have another assessment before considering whether to use him against West Ham on Monday or save him for the Europa League semi-final first leg against Torres’ former club Atletico Madrid on Thursday.

“We had some problems with the flights so we have kept him here but he needs to see the specialist,” said Benitez. “Talking with him before he was thinking about West Ham and the rest of the games but against West Ham...I think it will be difficult. Everything is fine but we have to wait for the diagnosis and we’ve had to delay the meeting with the doctor. If the flight is available he has to go and see the specialist to make sure everything is fine.”