Chris Wildgoose | Sports Journalist | A tale of three strikers

Monday 31 January 2011. A tale of three strikers, all of whom have led very different careers in the six years since making big money moves on deadline day.

In the wake of Fernando Torres’ departure to Chelsea for a then British record transfer fee of £50m, Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish splashed out £35m for Newcastle’s Andy Carroll – which, at the time, was the highest fee for a British player.

The Anfield club also had another ace up their sleeve as they parted with £22.8m to acquire the services of a certain Luis Suarez from Ajax. The Uruguayan arrived on Merseyside, unsurprisingly, in a cloud of controversy having been suspended for seven games by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) for biting PSV’s Otman Bakkal.

Dalglish had signed two strikers in relatively good form – with both Carroll and Suarez averaging a goal every two games for Newcastle and Ajax respectively. The additions appeared to have a positive impact on the team as Liverpool finished the season strongly to rise from twelfth to sixth, with the new boys scoring six goals between them.

Elsewhere, Torres was taking a little longer to settle into his new surroundings at Stamford Bridge and managed just one goal in 14 league games as Chelsea finished second behind Manchester United.

The 2011/12 campaign was a memorable one for the Spaniard, as he fired Chelsea into an unforgettable Champions League final with a last minute winner against Barcelona at the Nou Camp.

Suarez, fresh from winning Player of the Tournament at the 2011 Copa America, was finding his feet on Merseyside and finished the season with eleven league goals. However, more controversy was to follow as the FA found him guilty of racially abusing Patrice Evra. Subsequently, Suarez was banned for eight matches and fined £40,000.

Meanwhile, Carroll was struggling to cope with the expectations following his move from the north-east and managed just nine goals in all competitions – two of which came in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton and FA Cup final against Chelsea, which Liverpool lost.

That would be his last goal for the Merseyside club as Carroll joined West Ham on loan for the duration of the 2012/13 season, where he scored seven goals in 24 appearances.

Across London, Torres was enjoying his most successful campaign at Chelsea. Reunited with former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez following the acrimonious departure of Roberto di Mateo, the Spaniard scored 22 times in all competitions as the Blues won the Europa League – with Torres scoring in the final.

On Merseyside, Suarez was living up to the potential that prompted Liverpool to invest so heavily in him as he bagged 30 goals over the course of the season. But the Uruguayan was at the centre of another scandal as he received a ten game ban from the FA for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivaonvic.

After stating his desire to leave Liverpool and having a £40,000,001 bid from Arsenal rejected by the club, Suarez made his first appearance of an incredible 2013/14 season following his ban in a 1-0 League Cup defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Suarez finished the campaign as the Premier League top scorer with 31 goals as the Anfield club missed out on the league title to Manchester City, with the forward scoring his last goal for Brendan Rodgers’ side in a 3-3 draw at Crystal Palace.

At the start of the season, West Ham parted with £15m to secure Carroll’s services on a permanent basis. However, due to injury, the striker didn’t appear for the Hammers until January and managed just two goals in 18 games.

Torres, meanwhile, cut a frustrated figure under Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and scored just five Premier League goals in his final season at Stamford Bridge before joining AC Milan on loan on 31 August 2014.

The Spaniard scored just one Serie A goal before returning to Spain and boyhood club Atletico Madrid for the remainder of the campaign, where he only managed six goals in all competitions.

Also in Spain was Suarez, who had signed for Barcelona for a fee in the region of £65m – despite the striker yet again being banned for biting. This time it was Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on the receiving end of a nibble from the man rapidly becoming one of the most villainous characters in world football.

Suarez made his Catalan debut in a 3-1 El Clasico defeat on 25 October 2015 and went onto score 25 goals in all competitions as the new ‘Holy Trinity’ of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez fired Barcelona to the treble.

On British soil, injuries yet again plagued Carroll who suffered ankle and knee ligament damage in a frustrating campaign. In 14 league appearances, the striker netted five goals and did not feature again until September 2015.

The 2015/16 season was more positive for the nine-time England international as he turned out 32 times in all competitions and scored nine goals – including a hat-trick against Arsenal on 9 April 2016.

In Spain, Torres had rediscovered the form of his early career and was part of the Atleti side that lost agonisingly on penalties in the Champions League final to city rivals Real Madrid. Diego Simeone’s side also came close to a second league title in three seasons – finishing third, three points behind Suarez’s Barcelona.

The Catalan’s, spearheaded by ‘MSN’ claimed a league and cup double with the Uruguayan scoring an astonishing 59 goals in all competitions. Suarez finished fourth for the Ballon d’Or in 2016, someway off eventual winner Cristiano Ronaldo, but one place better than in 2015.

So far this season, Suarez has 21 goals in 29 games for Barcelona who are second in La Liga, while, in comparison, Torres has only found the net three times for fourth placed Atletico. Carroll is currently in a purple patch for West Ham and has five goals in ten league games.