Rangers boss Steven Gerrard admits Fernando Torres' decision to leave Liverpool 'broke his heart' and revealed he did all he could to keep him at the club.

Torres scored 81 times in just 142 matches for Liverpool and almost ended their long wait for a Premier League title in 2008/09.

But just 18 months later, he sealed a controversial £50million transfer to rivals Chelsea, a move that had a great impact on Gerrard.

“I was really, really gutted (when Torres left)," he told the Robbie Fowler Podcast. "We're working so hard at this point to try and get as close as we can to close the gap and challenge.

"At Liverpool at the time it always felt like we were taking huge strides and getting close and progressing really well, and then at a really key time and a key moment for the team and the group, a big player gets taken away and it takes time to recover from that.

"My relationship with Torres, I was getting a lot of goals at that time. I was at my peak and felt fantastic.

"I understand everyone's situation is different. People have dreams and different paths and they're not all local lads who love the club.

"I appreciate and respect all that, but at the same time it still hurts when someone leaves a club.

"I've told Fernando that. I tried to get him to stay. I told his agent the same. They were both at Melwood but they made a decision and that decision was out of my hands. It hurt a lot."