Liverpool news: Fernando Torres claims Reds unfairly portrayed him as a 'traitor' after £50m Chelsea switch

The Spaniard scored 65 goals in 102 league appearances for the Anfield club

Fernando Torres left Liverpool under a cloud in 2011 (Getty)

Fernando Torres has suggested he was portrayed as a “traitor” by Liverpool when he joined Chelsea for £50m in 2011.

The Spaniard scored 65 goals in 102 league appearances for the Anfield club but, in a new book by Simon Hughes entitled Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC Into the 21st Century, he opens up on the events which led to his acrimonious Merseyside exit.

It was reported at the time that Torres requested to leave Liverpool and forced the five-time European Cup winners into corner in pursuit of a lucrative switch to Stamford Bridge, something the 32-year-old Atletico Madrid striker now denies.

He said: “It was presented as if I was a traitor. It was not like this in the discussion.

“Liverpool could not admit they were doing something wrong with the whole team. They had to find a guilty one.”

The club was sold to Fenway Sports Group the previous October with Damien Comolli later being appointed as director of football heralding a complete change in transfer strategy.

“Comolli told me that the new owners, they had an idea of how to spend their investment. 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.”