Atletico Madrid supremo Miguel Angel Gil Marin is hoping star striker Fernando Torres will remain at the club, but insists that no player is indispensable.

Torres is being linked with a move to Champions League finalists Liverpool, with a transfer fee of around £25 million being mooted for the 23-year-old Spain international.

Gil Marin, Atletico's major shareholder, wants to see Torres leading their attack again next season, but is adamant that the striker is not irreplaceable.

"Nobody is indispensable. We are trying to create a competitive team and no player by himself, very good though he is, is able to make a team achieve its aims," Gil Marin said on Punto Radio.

"Atletico are building a team that does not revolve around Fernando Torres but around the team as a whole.

"I would delighted if Fernando was to continue here, but the future is going to be decided by Fernando himself.

"We have spoken to him and told him we would like him to stay," added Gil Marin. "It is normal that he has doubts. It is normal that the offers and everything surrounding them has made him think.

"Torres knows that Atletico want him and if Fernando wants to continue at Atletico, he is going to continue."

Torres is believed to be interested in a move to Merseyside but reports today suggested that the deal was being held up by the club's reluctance to pay his signing on fee of 10 per cent of the sale price, or £2.5m.

Gil Marin also revealed they were hoping to bring in Villarreal's former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan to boost the Rojiblancos' firepower - whether Torres stays or not.

"The operation which we are trying to close is that of Forlan, who we are looking at to provide support to Fernando, as well as a possible alternative."

Liverpool, meanwhile, have extended their sponsorship deal with Carlsberg by three years, until 2010.  The Danish beer first began its partnership with the club in 1992.