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• Spanish Football Federation diagnoses World Cup final injury
• Scan reveals ‘grade one muscle fibre rupture in the left thigh’

Spain’s Football Federation says the Liverpool and World Cup-winning Spain striker Fernando Torres has ruptured a muscle in his left thigh.

In a statement on its website the federation said Torres had a magnetic resonance scan yesterday at the Centro de Madrid Clinic and evidence was found of “a grade one muscle fibre rupture in the left thigh”.

Torres struggled to make the World Cup after missing the end of Liverpool’s season with injuries to his right knee and looked sluggish in South Africa.

He pulled up shortly after coming on during extra-time of Sunday’s 1-0 win over Holland in the final.

The scan results are now being sent to Liverpool, and it is unlikely Torres will feature before the new season starts.

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• Spain striker wore Liverpool scarf during World Cup celebration
• Torres has been linked with a summer exit from Anfield

Roy Hodgson said pictures of Fernando Torres celebrating his World Cup success wearing a Liverpool scarf have given the club a lift. The Spain striker has been the subject of speculation over his future throughout the summer but he showed his allegiance after Sunday’s win in Johannesburg.

The 26-year-old was one of four Liverpool players in the World Cup final squads along with his Spain team-mate Pepe Reina and the Holland pair Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel.

Hodgson told the club’s website: “As Liverpool manager, I take great pride in the fact that two of our players can call themselves World Cup winners this summer.

“I think it’s safe to say the pictures of Fernando in the dressing room with the World Cup certainly went down well with our fans but the club can be proud of all the players who went away to the World Cup. To have four players reach the final is an incredible achievement and I look forward to working with them when they return to Melwood after their holidays.”

Liverpool could today learn the extent of the adductor injury which forced Torres to pull up late in extra-time in the final. Torres, who was plagued by injuries throughout last season, was due to have a scan yesterday having returned to Madrid with the rest of the Spain squad.

The Liverpool medical staff are due to fly out this week to meet Torres, who is now beginning his summer break. The players who have already returned for pre-season work step up their preparations today by flying out to a training camp in Switzerland.

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• Argentina captain wants a reunion with Rafael Benítez
• ‘For him to be linked to Inter has a magical taste,’ says agent

Javier Mascherano has begun agitating for a move from Liverpool for a second successive summer, with his agent describing the prospect of a reunion with Rafael Benítez at Internazionale as “a dream”.

The Argentina captain has been disillusioned at Anfield for some time, having been denied a transfer to Barcelona 12 months ago and with his family having struggled to settle in England. An offer to extend his contract beyond 2012 was agreed in principle towards the end of last season only for Mascherano to leave the agreement unsigned as he awaited developments on Benítez and Liverpool’s financial situation.

Benítez’s new club, the reigning European champions Inter, are keen on the 26-year-old midfielder but, as with Steven Gerrard and Real Madrid or Fernando Torres and Chelsea, Liverpool have yet to receive an offer. Mascherano’s agent, however, has made it clear that Inter would have no trouble enticing his client to Italy should they agree a fee with Liverpool.

“If it was up to Mascherano, the negotiations [with Inter] would be very easy,” said Walter Tamer. “But he has a contract with Liverpool and first the two clubs would have to find an agreement before we step in.”

Liverpool’s new manager, Roy Hodgson, made it a priority to outline his visions for the club to Gerrard and the vice-captain, Jamie Carragher, but has been unable to meet Torres, due to Spain’s World Cup success, or Mascherano, who is on holiday in America. Tamer said: “Mascherano has not spoken to Hodgson nor with Liverpool. After the World Cup, he has switched off but it’s clear that he is happy to be a target of top clubs in the transfer market.

“Last season it was the European champions, Barcelona, that wanted him and this year it’s Inter, the current Champions League winners. For him to be linked to Inter has a magical taste … it’s a dream. Think about it; the strongest team in the world wants him, a team where many of Mascherano’s compatriots play and a side that is guided by a coach with whom Mascherano has a personal bond.”

Benítez priced Mascherano out of a move to Barcelona due to a reluctance to lose both the Argentinian and his then central midfield partner, Xabi Alonso. But Tamer believes the £50m asking price demanded last summer is no longer relevant. “Last year Benítez turned down a lot of money offered by Barcelona for the player but this is a different market,” he said. “I have not been informed what Mascherano’s buyout clause is. I await a call as I am the only one authorised to speak of his eventual transfer.”

As well as a meeting between Hodgson and Torres, Liverpool are still waiting for confirmation of the extent of the groin injury the Spain international sustained in the closing stages of Sunday’s World Cup final. Torres is expected to undergo a scan but Liverpool, whose first-team squad begin a pre-season training camp in Switzerland, are now hopeful the injury is not as serious as initially feared.

Dr Peter Brukner, the club’s new head of medicine and sports science, said: “We’ve been in touch with the Spanish medical team and they don’t think it’s too serious. It’s an adductor muscle injury but they’ve not had a chance to assess it today.

“Fernando will have a proper assessment and probably a scan tomorrow and some of the Liverpool medical staff will go to Madrid later in the week to fully assess the injury and organise his rehab. At this stage we don’t think it’s too serious. We can’t say too much more at the moment until it is properly assessed.”

Reports in Belgium today have linked the Standard Liège captain, Steven Defour, with a move to Anfield.

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