Goal king Torres ruled out for six weeks after undergoing knee surgery
FERNANDO TORRES was last night ruled out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on his troublesome knee injury.
The Liverpool striker will be out of action for around six weeks, which not only sidelines him for the rest of the Premier League run-in, but also the Europa League semi-final against his former club Atletico Madrid.
Torres, however, is expected to be fit in time for Spain’s World Cup campaign, which gets underway against Switzerland on 16 June – a good two-and-a-half weeks after his projected return date.
Torres has scored 22 goals for the Reds this season despite being beset by knee and groin injuries. A club spokesman said: “Fernando saw a specialist in Spain earlier today and it was decided that he would need surgery on a torn cartilage in his right knee.”
The loss of Torres is a hammer blow to Liverpool’s hopes of qualifying for a Champions League place. Rafael Benitez’s side are currently eight points behind fourth-place Spurs ahead of tonight’s clash with West Ham at Anfield.