5 most expensive Spanish footballers of all time

2) Fernando Torres - £50m

Fernando Torres made the switch from Liverpool to Chelsea

It was quite easy to spot Fernando Torres on the pitch thanks to his blonde hair that made him stand out. And yet defenders lost track of him thanks to his explosive pace and well-timed runs in behind them.

Liverpool knew what they were getting when they signed him from Atletico Madrid. A player who finished top scorer in two of the three full seasons he spent at the club. The Spanish striker struck up a telepathic partnership with club captain Steven Gerrard that occasionaly wreaked havoc in the Premier League.

But off the pitch, the club was being run aground by American owners who replaced Rafa Benitez with Roy Hodgson in 2010/11. By then Torres was the subject of a lot of interest from other clubs but Hodgson vehemently denied a sale, saying: "He is not for sale and we don't welcome any offers for him. We want to keep him."

By January 2011, however, Torres had become disillusioned and an initial £40m offer from Chelsea (which was rejected) saw Torres submit a transfer request. The Anfield club soon realised that they could not keep him and soon accepted Chelsea's renewed bid of £50m to make him the most expensive Spanish player and British transfer at the time.

His Chelsea career, however, was far from being as good as his stint in a red shirt as he scored just 45 goals in three-and-a-half seasons at Stamford Bridge.