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MADRID - Atletico Madrid soccer striker Fernando Torres is poised to complete a record-breaking move to Liverpool after cutting short a holiday to give the go-ahead to a reported 36 million euros ($63.30 million) deal.
"We are in conversations, but nothing has been signed yet," Atletico President Enrique Cerezo said today.
"The deal has not yet been finalised and Fernando Torres remains an Atletico Madrid player but that might change tomorrow."
Spanish media reported that the 23-year-old international would undergo a medical tomorrow prior to signing a six-year deal with the English premier league club.
The move, should it go ahead at the reported figure, would be the highest transfer fee paid for a Spanish player, beating the US$41m Lazio paid Valencia for midfielder Gaizka Mendieta in 2001.
The future of the Atletico captain has been the subject of intense speculation since the end of the Spanish season.
Torres, who joined Atletico as an 11-year-old, has been the club's top scorer for the last five seasons, completing his most successful campaign in 2003-04 when he struck 19 goals.
Liverpool midfielder Luis Garcia, who is expected to move in the opposite direction, arrived in Madrid today to undergo a medical on his injured knee prior to a likely return to his former club.
- REUTERS