Graphic: Value for money?

Fernando Torres will be introduced as Liverpool’s record signing today, but as Rafael Benítez, the manager, prepares to restructure his attack around the man he hopes will help to end the club’s long wait for the league title, one player who will not be making way for the Spain forward is Peter Crouch.

Benítez had privately appeared to be willing to sell Crouch this summer, but the England striker has since been told that he has a future at Anfield and that he will compete with Dirk Kuyt and Andriy Voronin for a place alongside Torres next season. The same cannot be said for Djibril Cissé, whose move to Marseilles is imminent, even though Liverpool are holding out for more than the £6.1 million fee agreed with the French club for the striker amid late interest from West Ham United, or Craig Bellamy, the Wales forward, who will also be sold.

Despite receiving assurances about his future, Crouch, who has two years left on his contract, is not thought to have held talks about a new deal. “It is not true that he [Crouch] is the only player not to have been approached about a new deal and he is very much part of Rafa BenÍtez’s future plans,” Rick Parry, the Liverpool chief executive, said yesterday.

It is news of Torres’s arrival from Atlético Madrid that has generated the most interest among Liverpool supporters, though, and while there are some who still appear unconvinced by the 23-year-old Spaniard, few can question his desire to move to Anfield.

Torres cut short his holiday in the Polynesian islands to complete a medical at Liverpool’s Melwood training ground yesterday afternoon and will put pen to paper on a six-year contract worth just over £28 million tomorrow.

Liverpool are thought to have paid about £20.2 million, although with Luis García, who was unveiled as an Atlético player yesterday after signing a three-year contract with the Spanish club, valued at £4 million, the deal is worth over £24 million and comfortably eclipses the £14.2 million the club paid for Cissé in 2004.

The signing of Torres is likely to appease BenÍtez, who had become frustrated by the club’s inactivity in the transfer market, and the manager will now focus his attention on trying to prise Gabriel Heinze, the Argentina defender, away from Manchester United.

Heinze’s representatives, having met David Gill, the United chief executive, in recent days, have indicated to Liverpool that their client would be interested in a move, although the player’s future is unlikely to be resolved until after the Copa America finishes on July 15. There is also strong interest from Spain in Heinze.

Benítez will also hope to offload Bellamy to help to fund the purchase of a new winger, possibly Alessandro Mancini, of AS Roma, but will have to lower his £12 million valuation with Aston Villa, West Ham and Blackburn Rovers not willing to pay so much.