Fernando Torres says Liverpool made him a scapegoat over Chelsea transfer

Fernando Torres has claimed Liverpool made him a scapegoat during his then-British transfer record move to Chelsea in 2011. The Spaniard joined the Blues for £50m ($65.1m) during the January transfer window, but has blamed Liverpool's top brass for the fans turning against him.

Torres, 32, has revealed he spoke to chief executive Christian Purslow in the summer of 2010 and director of football Damien Comolli in November that year, seeking assurances about the club's long-term ambitions. But Torres said the landscape changed following the takeover by Fenway Sports Group, who appointed Kenny Dalglish as the Liverpool manager and adopted a more money-conscious approach in the transfer market.

"Comolli told me that the new owners, they had an idea of how to spend their investment," Torres says in a new book titled Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC into the 21st Century – the players' stories. "They wanted to bring in young players, to build something new. I was thinking to myself, this takes time to work. It takes two, three, four, maybe even 10 years.

"I didn't have that time. I was 27-years-old. I did not have time to wait. I wanted to win. Here we are five years later and they are still trying to build – around the same position in the league as when I left."

Torres claims he only spoke to Liverpool about his unhappiness with the situation after the club had privately opened transfer negotiations with Chelsea. He also said that a leak from the club "changed the view of everybody, including myself".

"It was presented as if I was a traitor," said the ex-Liverpool striker. "It was not like this in the discussion(s). Liverpool could not admit they were doing something wrong with the whole team. They had to find a guilty one."

Torres spent four years at Chelsea, where he won the Champions League in 2012, and has subsequently played for AC Milan and Atletico Madrid in Spain, where he started his professional career.