Suggestions emerged earlier this week that Chelsea believed "some people" at Anfield would consider selling the £26million Spanish striker if the price was right.

Benitez said: "The situation is very simple - we do not want to sell Fernando Torres.

He added: "If a player does a good job for his team, like Fernando has for us, then it is sometimes easy for people to speculate that he might be wanted by other clubs.

"I am not aware of any offer being made by Chelsea but even if there was my answer would be the same - he is not for sale.

"We are trying to add to the spine of our team and that means keeping players like Fernando, Javier Mascherano, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher."