Fernando Torres fired in the goal to guarantee Liverpool's passage to the semi-final of the Champions League last night in the side's excellent 3-0 aggregate victory over Inter.

The goal last night, a superb finish on the turn, was his eighth goal in the last five games and the twenty-sixth of what is turning out to be a spectacular season for the twenty-three year old Spaniard.

Many overseas strikers take a while to settle in English football if they manage it at all. There have been exceptions, Van Nistleroy for example, but not many. Nearly all have needed some time to settle. The excellent Adebayor at Arsenal is certainly producing much more in his second season than he did in his first. Drogba was the same with Chelsea and it took Carlos Tevez an age to bed in at both West Ham and Manchester United.

Torres has 'hit the ground running' in England and with those twenty-six goals in just thirty-five games, he must be a serious challenger for the title of player of the season, so far.

All talk this season has been about which of Christiano Ronaldo and Emmanuel Adebayor have been the best. There is absolutely no doubt that they both have a claim to the prize, but I strongly believe that Torres has done enough to be considered in the same 'league' as the other two.

Liverpool fans are even talking about Torres in the same breath as their hero Steve Gerrard, and that is certainly saying something!

Torres is direct and quick. His movement is exceptional and he scores ordinary goals and great goals. It is difficult to see what attributes he is lacking and he seems to be getting better and better.

He has forced manager Rafa Benitez into playing him regularly rather than rotating him as he did earlier in the season. "He will start almost every game, but it depends on the time. Sometimes you need to protect players, too," said Benitez.

"If you have two games in a week with huge intensity, it's not easy. We will play in four days against Reading at Anfield and I think he will play."

It has become a fact that Liverpool without Torres are a far less dangerous and effective team than Liverpool with Torres. As an outsider I would suggest that he may have even become more crucial to the team than Gerrard.

If Torres can fire Liverpool to another Champions League triumph then he would have a justifiable claim to the 'Best Player' title. Of course, the same applies to Ronaldo and Adebayor!