Fernando Torres, finally, came out this week in praise of Liverpool.
Despite leaving the Reds under a heavy cloud of criticism to join Premier League rivals Chelsea. The Spanish striker endured calls of being a traitor (myself included) by the Liverpool fans.
He drew further wrath at the time by claiming he had now joined “a bigger club” in Chelsea, he also claimed that he had no loyalty to any club other than Athletico Madrid
His home-town team from where he moved to Anfield for £20 million during Rafa Benitez’ reign.
He endured a miserable start to his £50 million Chelsea career scoring just once in the latter-half of the 2010/11 Season.
That form hardly improved much last Season as he managed just 11 goals during Chelsea’s campaign last Season.
In an interview with Spanish media during the week, Torres finally spoke of Liverpool in glowing terms:
“I owe Liverpool a huge amount. To the people, to the men in charge, to (Rafa) Benítez and his staff, to the city. A huge amount.”
“Liverpool is a fundamental part of my life. They don’t remember me that way, but time will change that. I could not have chosen a better place to go when I left Atlético (Madrid).”
“I decided to leave because I had to take a step forwards. It wasn’t the best way to have gone but nor were things exactly as they were sold [to people].”
He did hint that there was more to the story than the mere quest for better trophy winning opportunities, adding:
“One day the truth will come out. In a sporting sense, nothing was happening; a new project was needed. We talked about that – about growth.”
“The other day when the news broke about Hillsborough, I felt emotional,” revealed Torres. “I have experienced that, I know what the people have been through, I have seen them cry. I’ve lived that, I made it mine.”
Well done Fernando Torres, I always admired you as a footballer and I felt betrayed when you left Liverpool, but, funny enough, I always wanted you to continue to do well for Spain and get a goal or two for Chelsea.