Benitez closes in on signings

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The Anfield chief was guarded on the belief that Liverpool and Atletico had struck a deal in principle to bring striker Torres to Merseyside, but sources close to the club insist that only personal terms with the Spanish international now need to be concluded when he returns from holiday next week.

Although the Madrid club officially played down talk of an imminent move, a spokesman insisted no deal had been agreed "but things might change," privately they have accepted the 23-year-old wants to leave - and Benitez did nothing to deny a deal is close when he said: "All I can say is Fernando Torres is one of the players we have looked at."

But after the first week of pre-season training, Benitez clearly believes that his top target is within his grasp.

He said: "You must always be excited at the start of a new season. You must also have confidence in your team and hopefully we will soon bring in the new players that we want to make the squad better.

"We are working on new signings all the time. As I've already said, the spine of the team is in place and now we just need to add to that."

Anfield officials are now very confident that the Torres deal is set-up. They will pay close to the £27m buy-out clause in the player's contract.

However, it is expected that Torres will have to say he wants to leave to allow Madrid to escape the wrath of their fans, who idolise the player they have called 'the kid' since his debut as a 16 year old.