Benitez looking to end title wait

CNN -- Five months after their takeover of Liverpool, American sports tycoons George Gillett and Tom Hicks have finally flexed their financial muscles by smashing the club's all-time transfer record to sign striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid.

For such a coveted player to leave the sanctuary of the club he adored, to move to Merseyside, is a real coup for manager Rafa Benitez. No doubt, the Spanish influence played a key factor in negotiations, with Benitez and midfield star Xabi Alonso -- as well as a couple of reserve players -- all available to make Torres feel at home.

But the fact that Liverpool have reached two Champions League finals in three years was obviously a major draw. A club with such a celebrated history and tradition at home and in Europe is always going to attract top players -- and add in the investment and backing that the new owners have promised Benitez -- then everything seems rosy in the Anfield garden.

However, it can be argued that perhaps things are not as well at Liverpool as they first appear.

They have not won a league title since 1990, a massive gap of 17 years which would have looked totally ridiculous when they were sweeping all before them in the late 70s and 1980s and, more importantly to the Kop diehards, never look remotely like challenging for the championship.

True they have won the Champions League under Benitez, as well as the FA Cup, but both victories were on penalties -- a lottery by anybody's standards -- and the domestic league title is always the barometer of a side's true standard, a competition Liverpool have fallen woefully short in recent years.

Can one player change that?...Is Torres the knight in shining armour that will turn the Reds from cup kings to title heroes?..I, for one, have my doubts.

It looks a giant task for Torres and, good player as he is, Benitez will be aware that domestic failure after spending a king's ransom on players is unlikely to be tolerated for long by his eager new bosses.

Liverpool's acute failure in front of goal last season was evident. Despite finishing third in the Premiership, 21 points down on Manchester United, they netted an astonishing 26 goals fewer than their Lancashire rivals -- and it is this discrepancy that Benitez will be hoping Torres will overturn.

Giant England international Peter Crouch, Dutchman Dirk Kuyt and Ukrainian Andrei Voronin will be vying to partner the Spaniard. Both Crouch and Kuyt failed to score as many goals as expected last season and Voronin, like Torres, may need at least a season to acclimatise to the English game.

Benitez likes to play a tight technical game, defensively sound but lacking in attacking flair. The use of two holding midfielders, meaning captain and talisman Steven Gerrard gets pushed to the right-wing, is an example of how Benitez's Liverpool grind out wins. This has proved effective in cup competitions, but surely a change of style and system is needed to overtake United and Chelsea on the domestic front.

Torres may well hit the ground running, score a few early goals, and endear himself to the Anfield faithful straight away. On the other hand, there is every probability that he might take at least a season to acclimatise to his new surroundings.

The question is..How long are Liverpool's new owners prepared to wait for their investment to be rewarded with a league title? E-mail to a friend