Fernando Torres returns to Liverpool to shadow Jurgen Klopp in training… as Trent Alexander-Arnold jokes that the former Reds striker is still a ‘better’ finisher than Mo Salah!

Fernando Torres returned to Liverpool to shadow Jurgen Klopp during the day as the team trained ahead of the game against Brighton on Sunday.

Torres, who was a Liverpool player from 2007 to 2011 and currently coaches the under-19s at Atlético Madrid, was at the Reds’ training ground on Friday to meet the likes of Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, and the shadow of Klopp.

The 40-year-old was invited to oversee training ahead of Brighton, with the intention of giving him first-hand managerial experience under Klopp and assistant manager Pep Lijnders before the German manager leaves the club at the end of the season. .

towers he told the club’s X page (formerly Twitter): ‘I’ve had the opportunity to see how everything works from the inside, which is fantastic.

“I’m a big fan of Jurgen and his staff and the whole environment at the AXA training facility, which is very different to when I was here.

Torres also met with Mo Salah and other Liverpool players to learn more about management

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“Obviously the club is growing a lot and I have the opportunity to see why.

‘There are many reasons. “It’s incredible to be here and to be able to meet with Jurgen, Pep and all the staff to learn and try to understand Liverpool’s style.”

Footage from the locker room showed Torres laughing with Salah, with the Egyptian joking: “He’s fitter than you!” in the direction of Alexander-Arnold.

The England star responded with his own retort, jovially telling Salah that Torres was “better” than him at finishing.

Previously, Torres was backed to become a successful manager in his own right.

In 2022, the former Atlético de Madrid coach Armando de la Morena told AS: ‘A coach like Fernando, knowing a little about his career, as a player and always with the respect he has acted, has the conditions to be a great coach.

Torres, the current coach of the Atlético de Madrid Under 19, is aiming for great things

The 40-year-old had first-hand experience with Klopp and assistant manager Pep Lijnders.

Torres marked his return to Anfield with a goal in the Liverpool legends’ match against Ajax

‘I also know it from the players, who tell me wonders about him, how he transmits, how he transmits the concepts to them. So what I see in him is that if everything goes in the right direction then we will have a future coach for Spanish football and for Atlético and, hopefully, also for the national team.

Last weekend, Torres joined some of Liverpool’s old heroes for the Legends’ match against Ajax, in which he scored the Reds’ final goal in a 4-2 win after a comeback in the second half against the Dutch team.

Torres earned a legendary reputation among Liverpool fans for his efficiency in front of goal after joining in 2007, scoring 81 goals in all competitions for the Reds.

However, the Spaniard’s controversial move to Chelsea four years later caused problems with some fans, after he was quoted as saying he had finally joined one of the “best clubs” in the world upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge.