Mancini - I could have signed Torres

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has revealed that he had the chance to sign Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 2011 before opting to snap up Edin Dzeko.

Torres eventually moved to Chelsea while Andy Carroll left Newcastle to join Liverpool, while Mancini snapped up Bosnia international Dzeko from Wolfsburg instead.

Mancini is pleased with his acquisition, even though Dzeko has often been used as a late substitute to devastating success this season.

Dzeko is 13/2 to open the scoring when Chelsea host Manchester City on Sunday afternoon while Torres is available at 6/1 to break the deadlock.

Mancini said: "Two years ago we had a chance (to sign Torres). We decided on other players, also because of his cost.

"There were four or five strikers we talked about. We chose Edin because we were missing the qualities he had - strong in the air and different from Torres.

"I think he (Torres) is a good player. Every striker can have a difficult moment but for me he is always dangerous."

Torres has scored 11 Premier League goals in 58 appearances for Chelsea while Dzeko has found the net 22 times in 55 league appearances for Manchester City.

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