the FWA Footballer of the Year award. On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th-minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt. After scoring his 24th league goal in the final game of the season, a 2–0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, he set a new record for the most prolific foreign goal scorer in a debut season in England, eclipsing Ruud van Nistelrooy's 23 goals. He ended the season in joint second place with Emmanuel Adebayor in the race for the Premier League golden boot. Torres was subject to media speculation that Chelsea were willing to pay £50 million to sign him, but Torres responded by saying it would be "many years" before he left Liverpool. Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks also negated the idea of a transfer, saying he would not allow Torres to leave the club at any price. 2008–09 season Torres made a scoring start to the 2008–09 Premier League season with a 25-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner away at Sunderland, which was the only goal in a 1–0 win on 16 August 2008. He suffered a hamstring tear in a 0–0 draw against Aston Villa, which would keep him out for two to three weeks. Torres made his return in a 2–1 victory against Marseille in the Champions League and went on to score two goals in the Merseyside derby against Everton on 27 September 2008 to give Liverpool a 2–0 win. He followed this up with another two goals the following weekend against Manchester City in a 3–2 win away at the City of Manchester Stadium as Liverpool came back from a two-goal deficit. The first of these was the thousandth Liverpool goal to be scored in the Premier League. Torres picked up a hamstring injury during a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier, meaning he was likely to miss three games for Liverpool. On 22 October 2008, Liverpool played Torres' former club Atlético in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, but his injury meant he missed out on the game. Atlético president Enrique Cerezo had given him a VIP invitation to watch the game, but he declined this to continue his rehabilitation from injury in Merseyside. He was named in the FIFPro World XI team for the 2007–08 season on 27 October 2008. Torres made his return for Liverpool on