Torres and Chelsea wipe the slate clean after a trying few years
There were moments when he could travel back in time. The Ł50 million man, perpetually lost for answers while at Chelsea, would on rare and fleeting occasions rediscover the prodigious talents of his athletic prime. When it happened, it was beautiful; nothing brought boundless optimism and joy like one of his goals. When it didn’t happen, however – and it rarely did – it was ugly. Very ugly.
On January 5, Fernando Torres will permanently cut ties with Chelsea. This news brings understandable relief to the Chelsea fan base. After all, it will bring to an end the worst signing in team history. But along with this relief comes an undeniable tinge of sadness. It is hard not to smile a little at the bittersweet memory of Torres’ Chelsea career, which encompassed the highest of highs sprinkled throughout a long, insufferable low. His contributions to the club, including a crucial late goal at Barcelona in the 2012 Champions League semifinal and a trophy winner in the 2013 Europa League final, will forever be shrouded by the lingering, unsatisfied promise of what could have been.
Torres opened his Chelsea career to unrealistic expectations. Though he was still in high form when he finished his stay at Liverpool, he was clearly already experiencing a decline. The nine goals he accumulated in 23 appearances before his 2011 Chelsea transfer were a far cry from the 18 goals in 22 appearances he tallied just a year before. Nevertheless, Roman Abramovich had seen enough by that point to splurge on what was in hindsight an inadvisable deal.
Torres was bought in an attempt to improve upon the lackluster 2010 goalscoring totals of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, but his arrival did anything but. In his first half-season with the club, the Spaniard scored only once in 14 appearances.
As time passed, Torres settled into a role of secondary importance to Chelsea’s success. His contributions were occasionally significant, but limited. Titles were won, but further chances were squandered. Still, the optimism surrounding Torres – though always fading – never disappeared. Whenever his presence on the club came to feel like an irrevocable nightmare, he would produce a time-traveling goal, and at these moments the chants at Stamford of “Tor-res! Tor-res! Tor-res!,” would seem fully deserved.
Such unending support and belief was delusional at best and outright insane at worst. But when your club has £50 million tied to a player whose past record proves his otherworldly potential, there is nothing to do but continue supporting him with the hope that that potential can be met – even if only for beautiful, fleeting moments.
With his upcoming return to Madrid, Torres has an opportunity to leave the suffocating, unbearable pressure of his Chelsea contract behind. This stage of his dwindling career will be free from the hounding of reporters and fans that shadowed his time in London. He no longer has to try to replicate his Liverpool form. He can finally simply play.
Similarly, Chelsea’s shoulders are now freed from the heavy, unmeetable promise of Torres’ contract. The second Mourinho era has to this point been marked by signings of financial and strategic brilliance. In first place at Christmas ’14, the squad can close the book on Torres and file it away as finished history.
At this point, there is nothing left to do but look back and smile sweetly on Torres’ brightest moments. I’ll leave you with this: on April 24, 2012, Fernando Torres brought Gary Neville to orgasm on live television. More accurately, he scored a crucial late goal to launch Chelsea past Barcelona into the Champions League final, where they would close out a miraculous tournament with a victory over the superior Bayern Munich. At that moment, £50 million felt like a bargain.
Cheers, Nando.
