Back to the place where it all started (II)

“I hoped my departure would be a ‘see you later’” he said in his presentation. And his wish came true. Seven years ago, Fernando Torres, ’El Niño’ of Atlético Madrid, left the club for the Premier League to embark on the most exciting goal-scoring adventure of his life.
Now, after playing for three different teams and savouring the sweet taste of international success with Spain, the striker returns home. To his home. Which he finds to have changed, but for the better. Always positive. “Atlético has grown a lot and is competing with big powerful teams”, he said.

He left with ‘9’ on his back and, to add a touch of magic to the situation, he returns to Spain wearing ‘19’ on the red and white strip. The number that was worn by his idol Kiko Narváez at the Madrid club and by Diego Costa, the former Atlético striker, now replacing him at Chelsea FC.

After scoring 91 goals in the seven seasons he played at Atlético, his most eventful chapter arrived. He went to Liverpool, where he matured as a person and grew as a footballer in the Anfield tradition. He scored 81 goals in 142 matches, twice the number he scored in almost the same number of games in his time at Chelsea.

In London he won everything, but he was unable to get the thorn out of his side. ”I won titles, but there was always something missing. I want to win them here”, he confessed emotionally in his presentation. This time he has the opportunity to do so and to make up for lost time, under a Diego Simeone who was his team-mate and friend, and who will now guide him in the dressing room.

In this second spell in Manzanares, Torres hopes to surpass himself and enjoy playing football at his beloved club. “I have been dreaming of this for a long time. I’m itching to play”. And he is doing it in style. After making his second debut in a demanding fixture in the Copa, against Real Madrid CF (2-0), his next opponents will be FC Barcelona, in the Liga BBVA, in the city where the team lifted the 2014-15t title in the last game of the season. His Rojiblanco story begins here, again.