Ancelotti undecided over Torres

Published Feb. 4, 2011 7:25 p.m. ET

foxsports

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has hinted he could leave England's most expensive player on the bench in Sunday's clash against Liverpool.

The Premier League champions splashed out a record-breaking £50million on Fernando Torres on transfer deadline day but Ancelotti was on Friday afternoon considering not starting the striker against his former club.

"Fernando is fit, okay, and has trained well," the Blues boss said during Torres' official unveiling.

"He's available to play against Liverpool.

"I don't know if he will start or if he will come on during the game. It's my decision. I want to take that decision. I will take it before 4pm on Sunday."

The same applies to the second most expensive defender in history, although David Luiz has hardly trained after being forced to return to Portugal to tie up the loose ends of his £25million transfer from Benfica.

Ancelotti said: "David Luiz is not here - he will come back tomorrow, maybe - so I have time."

It remains to be seen who would make way for Torres when the Spain star does make his debut, although Ancelotti's tactics in Tuesday night's 4-2 win at Sunderland hinted at a new formation, with Nicolas Anelka playing off Didier Drogba and one other striker.

Ancelotti said of Torres' position: "We have to find the right place to put him and the right system for all of the players to play together.

"I've never had a problem putting together players of quality. We have to try.

"We have to use training to improve our combinations up front."

Former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez claimed on Friday that there was talk of Torres being worth £70million when he was in charge at Anfield.

But Ancelotti was uninterested in whether Chelsea had overpaid for the striker or had got a bargain. "I was never involved in the financial details," he said.

"We decided, with the club, to do everything we could to try to buy Fernando because we think he's one of the best strikers in the world. This was my opinion about this."

He added: "Everyone knows he's a fantastic striker. He has abilities and skills to score.

"I ask a striker not just to score but to play for the team. You want to use his quality and ability for the team.

"This is our expectation. He's an unselfish player and doesn't have a problem playing for Chelsea."