Fernando Torres Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot.<ref name="Statistics: top scorers: 2007/2008"></ref> Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing to pay £50 million to sign him, but Torres responded by saying it would be "many years" before he left Liverpool. Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price. Torres made a scoring start to the 2008–09 Premier League season with a 25-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner away at Sunderland, which was the only goal in a 1–0
Rafael Benítez his club's new owners had to back him in the transfer market in order for Liverpool to progress following his side's 2–1 loss to Milan in the final. It was reported Benítez did not feel he had the complete support of the new owners, a thought that was compounded by Liverpool's initial lack of activity in the transfer window, although the club played these rumours down. Benítez's spending was, eventually, significant, breaking Liverpool's transfer record when signing Spanish striker Fernando Torres from Atlético Madrid as well as signing Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin. Among those Benítez