Goodbye Fernando Torres?

Fernando Torres

28 January 2011, reported to be the day when Fernando Torres handed the transfer request to force his way out of Liverpool FC. The day prior to that, he was the subject of a £40 million bid from Chelsea, which perhaps triggered that move from the ever so loved Reds’ striker. The bid however was rejected by Liverpool before they finally agreed to sell their striker for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer.

Now, the result of this ‘Record transfer’ is not hidden from anyone who follows football. To put it in a very polite way, it turned out to be a massive flop. However, some hardcore Chelsea and Torres fans might think otherwise. And I certainly can’t argue with them, because he has played a vital role in some of their major successes, viz. the goal in the 2012 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, the corner won by him led to that equalizer in the 2012 CL final which Chelsea were yearning for and of course the goal in the Europa league final. But, the point of debate is, would you pay £50 million for these?

Regardless of what the answer is, the fact remains that the Fernando Torres we saw at Liverpool, or the matured Torres of Atletico, performed way better than the Champions League and Europa League winner Torres of the Blues.

The question, nevertheless, remains. Where did the player, who was once the most feared number 9, evanesce? If somebody was in a quest for answers; he, possibly, might have found several answers – or to put it in a better way, several reasons resulting in a single answer. Even though I would not like to put forth my opinion on this enigmatic question, I would just say one thing: it would have been a different ending to this Torres’ Chelsea tale, if he had matched the dribble with a finish against Manchester United (for those who are perplexed of what this means; I hate to say it, but, he failed to put the ball in an empty net after dribbling past the goalkeeper).

This year could possibly be his last year in the Premier League. I, and perhaps most of the Torres fans, won’t shy away from saying that the Premier League won’t be the same without the once world’s number three player. If we summarize Torres’ stay in the Premier League, it won’t be wrong if we say Torres’ career at Liverpool is a head and his career at Chelsea is a tail. One that was full of goals and the other with a cabinet full of trophies.

Neither the fans nor Torres himself is sure of where his next venture lies. But all we and Torres himself can hope for is that the coin would land on a side which is full of goals rather than a side with trophies and some atrocious moments.

All right then, Fernando. Now that you’ll be leaving (I hope that you do, because this change will definitely be good for you), show the Premier League what it would lose one final time. You arrived in the Premier League like lightning, and I hope that you bow out of it like thunder.