Liverpool have rebuffed a 35million-pound (55.6- million dollar) bid from Chelsea for striker Fernando Torres, according to reports on Friday.
The champions had been linked with a move for the 26 year old in the summer, but this is the first report of a formal bid, DPA reported.
"Chelsea have made a bid for Fernando which has been turned down," a Liverpool spokesman told the Times. "The player is not for sale."
There has been much speculation about Torres's future. He has been out of sorts since the end of last season, something that was initially blamed on a knee injury and then on his disillusionment with the more direct approach introduced under Roy Hodgson.
He has looked rejuvenated in the five games since Kenny Dalglish took over as manager, though, scoring three goal sin his last four games (and having a goal wrongly ruled out against Fulham on Wednesday).
With Chelsea out of the top five, restructuring at Stamford Bridge was widely expected. Striker Didier Drogba, now 32 and having recently recovered from malaria, has been some way short of his best this season, and there were reports at the weekend suggesting he was likely to leave in the summer.
Liverpool, meanwhile, having sold forward Ryan Babel, are still negotiating with Ajax to sign their Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez.