Rafa paid £26.5m for Torres... and got a bargain

By John Cross 12/05/2008

Record signing Torres is a bargain

Rafa Benitez hailed Fernando Torres as a £26.5million bargain after the Spanish hit-man destroyed Tottenham.

After Liverpool striker Torres scored his 24th goal of the season, Benitez said: "Was he expensive? No, he was a bargain. Torres is as good a striker as there is in the Premeir League."

Torres broke Ruud van Nistelrooy's record for goals from a foreigner in his rookie season and his manager went on: "He wanted to score today to get the record.

"The only thing wrong with our season was that we did not win any silverware. We scored the most goals in England (119 in total), our keeper Jose Reina won the Golden Gloves for the third season in a row, and Torres is now the most prolific scorer in his first season in the Premier League. To gain 76 points is a good figure but we could not win a trophy."

Tottenham boss Juande Ramos admitted his team have suffered a major hangover since winning the Carling Cup in February.

"Maybe we achieved our objectives of winning a trophy too soon," he said.

Ramos insisted Spurs have no offers for Dimitar Berbatov who nonetheless seems certain to leave this summer.