IS THE CHELSEA DREAM OVER FOR FERNANDO TORRES?

By Tom Pollock
Updated: 15 December, 2011

English newspaper the Daily Mail recently claimed that Chelsea will be willing to listen to offers of around £20 million for Spanish striker Fernando Torres in the January transfer window.

Everyone with at least a mild interest in football will be aware that Torres has failed to make any sort of positive impact at the London club since his incredible £50 million move from Liverpool on deadline day last January.

While the integrity of the Daily Mail can be sometimes questioned, there is no doubt Chelsea would consider moving on the Spaniard should a decent offer come in. Already, rumours of clubs that are showing interest are appearing, perhaps most notably Torres’ former club Liverpool who are experiencing somewhat of a goal-drought.

Unsurprisingly, Torres’ boyhood club, Atlético Madrid are also rumoured to be interested in bringing El Niño back to where it all began. The Cantera product and former captain remains a hero amongst the Atlético fans who would no doubt welcome back Torres with open hands.

Atlético pumps through Torres’ veins. He joined los Colchoneros‘ youth setup as an 11-year-old back in 1995, progressing through the ranks before signing his first professional contract four years later. His senior debut came in 2001 and in the six years that followed, El Niño went on to make 249 appearances in the red and white.

During this same period he netted 91 goals, including 21 in the 2003/04 La Liga campaign, ironically when one Gregorio Manzano was in charge.

A move to the Estadio Vicente Calderon could work well for Torres who would not only be well supported off the pitch by the fans, but also on the pitch by the likes of Diego, Arda Turan and Jose Antonio Reyes who would provide plenty of scoring opportunities with their delivery from midfield.

Up front, Torres would have a more than capable partner in Falcao and a decent replacement in Adrian who is surprising many with his good form this season.

A return home would give the 27-year-old the opportunity to find his feet again after a rough 24 months that’s seen his reputation receive considerable damage. There is, however, some rather considerable factors that work against seeing Torres in an Atléti shirt again.

The first being his transfer fee and wage demands. Atlético aren’t exactly financially healthy and while the true extent isn’t known, the club appears to be in real trouble as highlighted here by Madridatletico’s Gary Nunn. It’s very hard to see los Rojiblancos being able to find an amount of money that would interest Chelsea and even harder to figure out how they would be able to offer a wage that would satisfy the striker.

The second being, that at this point in time, Atlético don’t seem to be in with a shot at qualifying for top European football. A 3-2 loss to Getafe and a 4-2 loss to Espanyol in the league was followed by humiliating a 2-1 cup defeat to third division Albacete, marking Atlético’s lowest points this season and not the results a team in the hunt for Champions League football should be recording.

Is this the sort of environment Torres would want to come in to?

The third being interest from other clubs. Torres has been off his game for two years, though this season he’s been showing glimpses of what he’s capable of. Top clubs all over Europe will no doubt take a look at Torres and see if he can fit into their squad as he’s the kind of player any manager would like to have the services of.

Inevitably, the clubs with cash to splash will be linked at some stage, namely Barcelona who may offer David Villa in some sort of trade deal and Manchester City, while both AC and Inter Milan, Liverpool, Manchester United, Bayern Munich and even Real Madrid are clubs that have been linked with Torres on social networking sites.

All of the above could easily out-muscle Atlético, should push come to shove.

On paper, an Atlético return seems to be a good career choice for the much maligned Fernando Torres. In reality however, the club’s financial restrictions, poor form and the interest form other clubs will undoubtedly mean fans of los Rojiblancos will probably have to wait a few more seasons yet before they see their hero return.

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