Former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has opened up about his departure from the club for the first time, believing he was portrayed as a "traitor" during his exit.
Torres left Anfield in January 2011 in a controversial £50 million move to Premier League rivals Chelsea after it had been made known that the player handed in a transfer request to push the deal through.
However, in a new book to be released later this month -- "Ring of Fire: Liverpool FC Into the 21st Century -- The Players' Stories" -- Torres has given his side of the story.
Torres, who is now back at Atletico Madrid after Chelsea sold him to AC Milan, feels there was a deliberate leak from the club to paint him in bad light when reports emerged that he had asked to leave.
"It was presented as if I was a traitor," he said. "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 explains that he was uncertain about his future at the club, which had recently been taken over by New England Sports Ventures (now Fenway Sports Group), and held talks with director of football strategy, Damien Comolli.
"Comolli told me that the new owners, they had an idea of how to spend their investment," Torres said.
"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 scored 65 goals in 102 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, and was named in the PFA Team of the Year and FIFPro World XI in two successive seasons but struggled for fitness in his final seasons with the club.
He never rediscovered his best form at Chelsea, but still won the Champions League, Europa League and FA Cup at Stamford Bridge.