Have people actually watched him play or are they just parroting the names being slung out by the media? (Sorry - didn't mean it to sound patronising

The guy is a good player but NOT a prolific scorer. I believe he has only once scored more than 20 goals in a season (3 years ago). He is not another Thierry Henry or a 'fox in the box'. If anything, Torres is more of a support striker or play-maker (a bit like Bergkamp/Gudjohnson/Totti?).
He is also still very young and - because he comes from a similar family back-ground - I would worry that he might suffer from 'Jose Antonio Reyes' syndrome.
Finally, the price we would reportedly have to pay for Torres (£27 million) is way to high - even if we include Reyes as part of the deal. £10 -£15 million maybe, but not £27 million. Anyway, I believe we have players in the current squad that can replicate the way that Torres plays (Rosicky for one).
(Before anyone writes in - I KNOW Totti finished the season as the European Golden Boot!! However, first of all he gets to take all their penalties and most of their free-kicks, as he is Roma's talisman and best player. Secondly, he has never scored that many goals in a season before and, I confidently predict, will NEVER repeat that feat again!!)