Torres has also indicated that he is prepared to cut short his holiday to sign for Liverpool this week, but, failing that, the Atlético Madrid forward will fly to Merseyside to sign what is expected to be a five-year contract worth about £90,000 a week when he returns from the Polynesian Islands in seven days' time.
Although the deal will put him among the club's best-paid earners, alongside Xabi Alonso and Jamie Carragher, it is still less than the annual €8 million (about £5.4 million) he presently earns with Atlético and some way short of the reputed £120,000-a-week salary of Steven Gerrard, Liverpool's highest-paid player.
Liverpool have agreed a deal in principle with Atlético, although it is thought to be significantly less than the £27 million release clause stated in the player's contract. It is thought that Liverpool will pay between €26-30 million, with Luis GarcÍa, who is valued at about £4 million, moving the other way.
The Torres transfer will not collapse if GarcÍa rejects a return to his former club, however, and whatever the eventual cost, it will still comfortably eclipse the £14.2 million that Liverpool paid for Djibril Cissé, who is expected to complete his move to Marseilles early this week after the deal was held up over the weekend in the wake of late intervention from West Ham United. Liverpool would still like more than the £6.1 million fee that has been agreed with Marseilles, but Cissé, who spent last season on loan at the French club, has indicated that he wants to join only a team that can offer him Champions League football, despite initial suggestions that he favoured a return to England.
"We're hopeful that the deal will be concluded this week," Ranko Stojic, the player's agent, said. "I'll be talking to Liverpool again [today], but Djibril wants to return to Marseilles and play Champions League football next season."
Aside from Torres, BenÍtez is said to be confident of making another significant signing - possibly a winger - within the next week, although the identity of that player is unclear.
BenÍtez also wants to force through a deal for Gabriel Heinze, although the Argentina defender is thought to favour a move to Spain, while Manchester United are reluctant to sell him to their rivals. Heinze's future is unlikely to be decided until he returns from the Copa America, in Venezuela, in a little more than a fortnight.
Amid the clamour for star signings, BenÍtez's desire to follow the path trodden by Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, and acquire the Continent's best young players before they become established has gone largely unnoticed. Dani Pacheco became the eighth such youngster to agree to join Liverpool when the 16-year-old forward completed his move from Barcelona over the weekend.
Barcelona were reluctant to lose Pacheco, but after the relegation of their B team last season meant that the C team could no longer function in the Spanish third division, the Catalan giants, who had already lost under similar circumstances Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué to Arsenal and Manchester United respectively, are fearful that more young players could follow suit. Liverpool will pay Barcelona about £350,000 in compensation for Pacheco, who has been likened to Romário.
Joining Pacheco at Anfield are Lucas Leiva, Alex Kacaniklic, Nikolay Mihaylov, Krisztian Nemeth, Andras Simon, Marvin Purie and Mikel San Jose, players BenÍtez hope will make Liverpool a force for years to come.