Fernando Torres is not for sale

The Reds Liverpool new manager Roy Hodgson has reiterated that Liverpool have no intention of selling Fernando Torres after holding talks with the Spanish striker.

Fernando Torres is considering his future at The Reds Liverpool following the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League and Chelsea are believed to retain an interest in the World Cup winner.

However, The Reds are reluctant to lose any of their leading players this summer and Hodgson has firmly stated that as far as he and the club are concerned, Torres will not be leaving Anfield.

"I have met with Fernando. I found him to be a very pleasant man and we had a nice conversation," Hodgson told reporters.

"As far as we are concerned he is a Liverpool player and we want him to remain a Liverpool player. He is not for sale and we don't welcome any offers for him.

"We want to keep him. My conversation with him was only short because I had to leave to come to the training camp in Switzerland. We spoke about football, the World Cup, his injury, and I told him how much I am looking forward to working with him.

"[Managing director] Christian Purslow was also at the meeting and chatted to Fernando for a lot longer after I left but my chat with him was only about football matters."

Midfielder Javier Mascherano is also the subject of speculation and his agent has claimed the player is keen to reunite with Rafa Benitez at Inter Milan. Hodgson has tried to contact Mascherano to ascertain his future plans but says he has been unsuccessul so far.

"I have tried to contact Javier," Hodgson said. "I have left him voice messages and sent him texts but had no reply. To be fair to him, that's not unusual because he's had a tough World Cup and I believe he's gone back to Argentina.

"It's not always easy to get in touch with people. I have tried to reach him to make clear I am happy to talk with him at his convenience."

It is a similar situation for captain Steven Gerrard, who has been linked with a possible move to Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid over the summer.

"I have met with Steven and thought the talks were positive," he said. "We are in a situation where we hear our players are being courted by other teams but it is all just rumours.

"What we haven't had is a club wanting to buy Steven Gerrard. Steven Gerrard is not for sale - I made that clear to him. I told him I supported the club's policy that we don't want to sell our best players and have to start building again.''