Carlo Ancelotti not fear that he would be sacked. But after this match, however, Chelsea's form began to improve. First with a 7–0 thrashing of Ipswich Town in the FA Cup at Stamford Bridge and then a 2–0 victory over Blackburn, followed by emphatic away wins against Bolton Wanderers and Sunderland, putting them in fourth position in the league, though still ten points behind leaders Manchester United. On 31 January 2011, Chelsea signed Liverpool striker Fernando Torres for a British record £50 million and Benfica defender David Luiz for £22 million. Chelsea lost 0–1 to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge but beat league
Transfer (association football) by an English club came in the summer of 1988, when Tottenham Hotspur signed Paul Gascoigne from Newcastle United. Within weeks of Gascoigne's transfer, the national record was broken again when Tony Cottee moved from West Ham United to Everton for £2.2 million, and again shortly afterwards when Ian Rush returned to Liverpool from Juventus for £2.8 million. In the space of two months in the summer of 1992, three transfers broke the record, all by Italian clubs: Jean-Pierre Papin transferred from Marseille to Milan, becoming the world's first ever £10 million player. Almost immediately, rivals Juventus topped that with