#3 Fernando Torres
It would be fair to say that very few players in the Premier League era possessed the elegance that Fernando Torres did. Torres was on the verge of being a world-class striker when he arrived at the Merseyside to sign for Liverpool in the summer of 2007. After all, during his time with the senior side of his childhood club Atletico Madrid, the blonde-haired hitman had shown great technical ability on the ball and a vision that very few attackers in the game possessed.
His performances in the first season provided enough evidence as to why the then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez made him the subject of the highest ever transfer fee the club had ever paid for a player. He left defenders clicking their heels, scored some wonderful goals and instantly formed a devastating partnership with Steven Gerrard to make Liverpool a unit to be feared.
He scored 33 goals in his first season at Merseyside and was the fastest to reach the 50 goals mark for the club and despite missing out on the Premier League trophy narrowly, was undeniably the best striker in the Premier League when fit. With great performances in the league also comes great attention from the likes of Roman Abramovic's Chelsea and Torres was identified as an asset they could not forego signing, whatever the cost be.
The Spaniard signed for Chelsea on the final day of the Winter transfer window in 2011 in what was then the highest fees ever paid by a British club – £50 Million. However, the move that promised a lot failed to reap the rich rewards as Torres instantly became human again. He missed glorious chances, seemed off the pace and soon became a constant source of jokes on the internet.
Yes, he did score some very important goals during his time at Chelsea. However, he was never again the same feared professional that he was at Liverpool and the move to West London proved to be the catalyst for his downfall.
