It has been revealed that former Liverpool hero Fernando Torres helped the club capture Raheem Sterling when he joined the club in 2010, with former manager Rafa Benitez saying that the Spanish star played a key role, as reported by the Daily Mail.
Sterling was under contract with Queens Park Rangers before moving to Anfield, and the club needed to do some convincing to make him leave the club where he was playing as a schoolboy.
The young England international then ran into Fernando Torres while being shown around Liverpool’s Melwood training ground, and Benitez is convinced that Torres’s encouragement was important to Sterling signing.
The former Reds boss said: “Fernando was there – and I think Steven Gerrard, too. But definitely Fernando.
I explained what Raheem and his mum were doing and I told Fernando what we thought of the young player we had brought in.
“He had a quick chat with him, asking how he was getting on. He was interested in him.
“Raheem was really pleased – and you could see his mum was, too – really impressed that the club’s biggest players had made a fuss of him.
“It was strange for me to show the young players around because in Spain, the manager doesn’t go around with new players, even younger ones. But I think they appreciated that we, all of us, had taken time to speak to them. Torres and Gerrard really were the big players in our team at that time.
“As the manager, it was a great for me to have them around.”
The talented young dribbler, who cost Liverpool only £400,000 to sign four years ago, has been in sensational form since the start of the new season, having played a key role for the side as they pushed for an unlikely title challenge last season.
Liverpool lost 1-0 to Aston Villa yesterday, although Sterling started on the bench.
