'I won the World Cup with Xavi and Iniesta - but Steven Gerrard was the best player I ever played with'

Despite having played with some of the best players to have ever played the sport, former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is adamant the greatest he played with is ex-Reds skipper Steven Gerrard.

During his storied career, Torres, who moved to Anfield back in 2007 from Atletico Madrid, won a World Cup and two European Championships with Spain, playing alongside the likes of Sergio Ramos, Sergio Busquets, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, Xabi Alonso and Iker Casillas.

However, despite this, Torres, who is currently coaching Atletico's B Team in Spain's Primera Federacion, the third tier of Spanish soccer, has always named one of his former Liverpool teammates as the best player he has ever played with - Steven Gerrard .

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While major success evaded the two during their time together at Anfield, on the pitch, their partnership was nothing short of devastating, with the duo scoring plenty of goals prior to Torres' 2011 departure to join Chelsea.

"I always say that the best player I ever played with is Steven Gerrard," Torres said back in 2019.

"I found in him the player that completed my game. I think my level reached a different dimension when I was on the pitch with him. It was an amazing three and a half years playing alongside Steven, and I would love to go back to those days, even if it was for one minute."

"I didn't play with Torres long enough because he went to Chelsea and broke my heart," Gerrard said in 2021.

"If you asked me who was the best player on a daily basis consistently, [Luis] Suarez was an animal but my best years were alongside Torres in terms of how I felt. I was really, really gutted [when Torres left]. We're working so hard at this point to try and get as close as we can to close the gap and challenge.

"My relationship with Torres, I was getting a lot of goals at that time. I was at my peak and felt fantastic."

Liverpool.com says: There's no doubt that Torres and Gerrard made each other better. The Spaniard scored 81 goals in 142 games for the Reds before leaving for Chelsea where he never recaptured his best form. On his day, he and Gerrard were devastating, it's just a shame they never achieved major success whilst at the club together.