• Spanish striker rules out move back to La Liga
• Club remain ‘a long way’ from dominating Premier League

Fernando Torres has expressed the view that Liverpool need “four or five” top-class players.

New faces are needed because the side remain “a long way” from dominating the Premier League, Torres told the Spanish newspaper AS. “If we do not reinforce the squad,” he said, “next year all we will be able to do is fight for fourth again.

“Being in the Champions League is not so important for me,” admitted Torres of his manager Rafael Benítez’s goal of a top-four finish. “What is really important is that the club makes an effort and brings in important players to improve the quality of the squad.

“I want to be fighting for the Premier League, the Champions League or the Europa League, but to do this we need signings to come. We need four or five top-class players to compete, players better than the ones we have.”

However, Torres dismissed whispers of a move back to Spain this summer, with Real Madrid or Barcelona.

“I don’t plan on going back to La Liga for a while. I have made my move away from home and I owe Liverpool a lot. I like it here, and people have treated me like one of their own. I am very happy here and hopefully my future is here. I think the club deserves to win again, but at this point they know they are a long way away.

“The fans are worried that players are going to leave and that’s a problem. But I think the club will go the right way. Since Christian Purslow took over [as chief executive], we have signed a big new sponsorship deal and money has come in. So I think things will move forward.”

Torres is contracted to Liverpool until 2013, having accepted more money last May. Asked if he had thought of leaving early, he said: “It’s too early to talk about that.”

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• Liverpool manager unfazed by criticisms
• Allardyce admits to ill-feeling between pair

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, has refused to bite back at his Blackburn Rovers counterpart Sam Allardyce’s latest jibe at him. The spat between them has been running for a long time and after Benítez mocked Allardyce’s behaviour and Blackburn’s style after their match at Anfield last month the Rovers manager responded in kind.

Allardyce suggested Benitez’s criticism of him is a cover-up for how bad Liverpool are, claiming they have all but blown their chance of finishing in the top four. “Who?” was the Liverpool manager’s initial, half-joking, response when asked about Allardyce’s latest comments after the 1-0 Europa League defeat in Lille. “No comment. No publicity for him.”

Allardyce admitted there is ill-feeling between the two but blamed Benítez for making things “personal”.

“It was a good cover-up by Rafa because he knows how bad his side were and that was repeated against Wigan on Monday night,” said the Rovers manager. “He’s got personal with it for many, many years now. That’s why I don’t like him and the feeling is probably mutual. I don’t get personal with him; I get into him and under his skin, yes, but that’s all part of the game.

“The tit-for-tat between me and Rafa will probably go on until one of us is no longer a Premier League manager. I’ve managed to psych out one or two here and there and that’s how the Premiership has evolved over the last 20 years.”

Allardyce also believes Liverpool’s result at Wigan leaves Benítez’s side unlikely to finish fourth and qualify for the Champions League.

He added: “The last time one of the big four didn’t finish in the top four it was Liverpool – Everton got that spot – and I think this time it looks pretty difficult having lost against Wigan. They are having to rely on other teams slipping up now. They have a wealth of experience and that may be a telling factor when the nerve ends start jangling.

“We saw what happened to Tottenham a few years ago with the famous “poisoned lasagne” scenario – which was obviously never the case – and they let it slip. But I think it might be more difficult for Liverpool this time around because there are more teams involved. There’s Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham in there and, if Everton keep rolling on, you might be surprised to see them making a late run.”

After the victory over Blackburn at Anfield Benítez had pointed the finger at Rovers’ uncompromising style saying: “I think it is a model for all the managers around the world, their style of football, his [Allardyce's] behaviour. The style of football I think Barcelona are thinking of copying.”

Allardyce claims, however, that this shows he has won the psychological battle. He said: “You do it to try to get your team in a position to get a result. Personal criticism is not the road I go down and I don’t personally criticise Rafa Benítez but I clearly get under his skin and that can be a benefit to my side when we play them.”

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