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Fernando Torres joined Chelsea in January 2011 for a sum in the ballpark of £50 million. While the jury is still out on whether or not his signing was a success, Fernando Torres has reserved a special place in the hearts of Chelsea fans through his valuable contributions at some key moments.
After a prolific spell at Liverpool, it took El Nino 903 minutes to score his first goal for Chelsea. But he improved in his second season, which was also one of the most memorable campaigns in the history of Chelsea football club.
Fernando Torres played a major role in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League triumph that season. He scored two goals in Chelsea's 5-0 win over Genk which enabled the Blues to cruise to the Round of 16.
Chelsea were tested to their limits by Napoli and the Blues overturned a 3-1 deficit from the first leg to qualify for the quarter-finals where they met Benfica. Chelsea looked to be running out of steam and nobody gave them a chance against Barcelona in the semi-finals.
Barcelona at the time were operating on a different level altogether and Chelsea's chances weren't fancied by anyone in the betting room. The Blues were played out of the park in the first leg.
The Catalans hit the post a couple of times and kept creating chance after chance but eventually succumbed to a 1-0 defeat as Didier Drogba scored from Chelsea's only shot on target on the night.
Things were expected to get tougher for Chelsea in the second leg that was to be played at the Camp Nou. The Blues held Barcelona off for a while but goals from Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta coupled with John Terry's sending off made it look like the funeral bells were ringing on Chelsea's European campaign.
However, there were plenty of twists yet to come. Midfielder Ramires restored parity just before the half-time break. Within five minutes of the second half, Lionel Messi missed a penalty but the Cules were still tipped to go through against 10-men Chelsea.
But a certain Fernando Torres, who was introduced in the 80th minute in place of Didier Drogba, had other ideas. Since Chelsea had copped an away goal, Barcelona committed everyone forward and in the 92nd minute, they won a corner.
The ball was floated into the box but it was cleared to the halfway line where a solitary Fernando Torres had been waiting for that exact kind of opportunity. He pounced on it, killed the ball with the lightest of touches and galloped at a charging Victor Valdez before cutting past him and stroking the ball home to send the Chelsea fans into delirium.
Fernando Torres will always be remembered fondly by Chelsea fans
It was Torres who won the corner off which Didier Drogba snatched that late equalizer in the final against Bayern Munich, before going on to win the game on penalties and lift the UEFA Champions League trophy.
Fernando Torres did not hit the heights he was expected to at Chelsea but he will forever reserve a special place in the hearts of the Stamford Bridge faithful for stealing the show when it mattered.
In 175 appearances for Chelsea across all competitions, Fernando Torres scored 45 goals and provided 35 assists. El Nino also has an impressive trophy haul from his time at Chelsea and has won one Champions League title, one Europa League title and one FA Cup during his stint at Stamford Bridge.
