Fernando Torres: Chelsea's Number Nine

Fernando Torres has now been a Chelsea player for over a week. It has been quite the turbulent affair, with Torres making his full debut for Chelsea against former club Liverpool on Sunday. He will be hoping that even though Chelsea lost Sunday’s battle, they will still win the war.

El Niño has come under criticism for the manner in which he left the club and the fans who adored him. John Aldridge last week labelled Torres a “fraud” for the manner in which he drew to a close three and a half years on Merseyside. Liverpool fans were angry; their idol had defected to rivals Chelsea after handing in a transfer request three days before the close of the transfer window. The modest young man from Madrid, who had endeared himself so successfully to the Kop, had “betrayed” those who had loved him most.

It is one of Britain’s most publicised and expensive transfers, and as far as Liverpool fans were concerned, it couldn’t have come at a more peculiar time. After a tumultuous two years under previous owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks, things on and off the pitch were finally looking up for Liverpool. New England Sports Ventures bought the club in October and within two and half months had installed club legend Kenny Dalglish as manager and Damian Comolli as Director of Football Strategy.

And yet it was January 2011 and not Summer 2010 when Torres decided to leave Anfield. He started the season with Liverpool when few expected him to. The squad that had finished second only a year ago was merely a memory. Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Sami Hyypia, key men in the 2009 title push, had left for pastures new. Liverpool had subsequently finished seventh, finishing outside of the Champions League qualifying places, resulting in the man who had brought Torres to Anfield, Rafael Benítez, being sacked. Following the euphoria of winning Spain’s first ever World Cup, Torres returned to Melwood to find that Albert Riera, Yossi Benayoun, Emiliano Insua, Alberto Aquilani and Javier Mascherano had departed, whilst Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulsen, Joe Cole, Milan Jovanovic and Raul Meireles had arrived. For the fourth transfer window running, Liverpool had made a profit, without improving the squad. How were Liverpool to improve on seventh without any investment into the team? Yet Torres stayed. Temporary Managing Director Christian Purslow convinced Torres to stay put as he was key to the ongoing sales process. Liverpool Football Club was a more attractive acquisition with one of the most talented and marketable footballers in the world than without him. Torres had experienced international success, winning the World Cup and the European Championship with Spain, yet his quest for club glory continued.

Roy Hodgson, Benítez’ successor, struggled to improve performances and results, and was relieved of his duties following Liverpool’s defeat to Blackburn Rovers in January. The Liverpool board sought fit to replace Hodgson with Dalglish, who was criminally overlooked for the role in the summer. NESV have an impressive record in baseball with the Boston Red Sox, yet having only been in charge at Anfield for a few months, hadn’t had the opportunity to shake things up in the manner they maybe would have liked. Following Dalglish’s arrival, Torres declared his intention to stay at the club and honour his contract. Less than three weeks later, however, he had handed in a transfer request in an attempt at securing a move to Chelsea. So what changed?

Torres, a boyhood Atletico Madrid fan, left for Liverpool in 2007 in search of silverware. Liverpool had been in two Champions League finals in the previous three years, famously lifting the title in Istanbul in 2005. Upon arriving, he declared his respect for the people of Liverpool and the city itself, whilst drawing comparisons between his new club and the one he had left behind. It’s fair to say that the Kop took to their new striker – he went on to score 81 goals in 142 matches, including important goals in memorable wins over Real Madrid, Inter Milan and Manchester United, as well as scoring regularly against rivals Chelsea and Everton. In 2009, he dedicated his autobiography to the “best fans in the world”.

Liverpool in 2011 are not the same club he joined in 2007, Torres has said as much himself. The promise of silverware is further away than ever. Whilst FSG are taking the right steps in rebuilding the club, it will take time to rectify the damage done by Hicks, Gillett and Purslow. The 2009 Premier League runners-up are no more – the squad had been dismantled in an asset-stripping exercise by way of paying off interest payments.

Torres weighed up his options. There was no guarantee Liverpool would win trophies in the next three seasons. Manchester City, whilst impressive at times this season, are still yet to qualify for the Champions League, let alone challenge for the title. With the capture of Edin Dzeko earlier this month, there was little interest in Torres from Eastlands. For all of the criticism he has received in the last ten days, it is highly doubtful Torres would have moved to either Real Madrid or Manchester United, out of respect for the fans of Atlético and Liverpool. At any rate, with neither club likely to stump up the £50m necessary to acquire him from Anfield, neither destination was entirely plausible. Barcelona would seem the most probable fit. Yet with Barҫa declaring financial losses over the summer, seeing the Catalan club don shirt sponsors for the first time in their history, they were never going to pay the necessary transfer fee. And so to, to Chelsea. The London outfit were the only club able to pay the transfer fee and able to challenge for trophies in the immediate future. Torres’ hand was forced by own short-termism.

Torres knows that he won’t garner the same support from Chelsea fans as he did the Liverpool faithful. He understands the club he has joined isn’t steeped in the same traditions as Liverpool, and before that, Atlético. But as Torres has maintained, he has moved to win trophies. In the short-term, he is more likely to win with Chelsea than Liverpool. Should FSG replicate their success in baseball with Liverpool sooner rather than later, then Torres may yet live to regret his decision to leave the “best fans in the world”.