Home » Teams » Chelsea » Enough Is Enough, Should Chelsea Finally Sell Their £50m Star?

Enough Is Enough, Should Chelsea Finally Sell Their £50m Star?

Does he still deserve a place in the squad?
Does Torres still deserve a place in the squad?

When you are walking past a store, there are times when you see something you fancy. I am sure that, we have all, at one time or another gone through a situation when we see something expensive and immediately want our hands on it. More often than not, that thing that we see, isn’t something we need at all, but out of sheer vanity, we buy it anyways.

The case of Chelsea buying Fernando Torres from Liverpool for £50m in January 2011 is something similar. Here was a club, who splashed the cash on a world class player, who didn’t seem to fit into their style of play. While there are times when either the club or the player adapts to each other and makes things work, this looked like a lost cause from the moment the move went through.

From being a world-beater at Liverpool, Torres was made to look less than average with the Blues. It wasn’t just his poor goal scoring record, but the fact was that his confidence was shot to pieces. Torres went from being a prolific striker to a very poor one in no time at all. While some of it is down to the club and the way they went about their football, the problem is as much a psychological one as it as a footballing one.

When you break the British transfer record and sign someone, the expectation on that particular player is huge. Making that signing in January makes it all the more difficult on the player because he will have to get used to his team mates and their style of play without the benefit of a pre-season with them. Torres struggled in this aspect and scored just one goal in the rest of the 2010/11 season for the Blues, after netting 9 times for Liverpool before signing.

It became very clear that the Spaniard didn’t really fit in, but the club, having signed him for a huge sum of money, didn’t want to let their investment go. So, they kept him and instead of getting better season after season, he only got worse. Although he has won his fair share of trophies at Chelsea, he has never really looked like someone who was an integral part of the success achieved by the club.

His goal against Barcelona aside, Torres’ time at Chelsea has been defined by the misses rather than the hits. Whether it was rounding David de Gea and missing an open goal at Old Trafford in September 2011 or the woeful miss in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Olimpija Ljubljana on Sunday, Torres’ time at Chelsea has been characterised by what could’ve been instead of being about what he did on the pitch.

Last season, Mourinho moaned about the fact that he didn’t have a “real striker” at his disposal. That tirade would’ve certainly shot what little confidence Torres had in himself and it looks as though the time has come when the club are finally willing to let him go.

The problem for the Blues now is that they will not be able to recuperate even half of the money spent on the Spaniard, for the 30-year-old resembles a spent force, a shadow of his former self. The club signed him on the back of him scoring over 60 goals in his 100 Premier League games for the Reds, but are now looking to sell him when he has managed just one-third of that in 110 League games for the Blues. Quite why someone would want a striker whose confidence is shot, whose acceleration is almost gone and who has been injury prone is beyond me, but there are still clubs interested in him.

Both AS Monaco and Atletico Madrid are reportedly interested in the Chelsea star, and it looks as though the Madrid club look favourites to sign their former star. The only problem for the club is his salary and transfer fee. Torres is currently on a £9million-a-year contract and thus the Blues are looking at a transfer fee in the region of £20m. Unfortunately for the Blues, no club is likely to meet their valuation and while Torres himself won’t mind a pay-cut and return to Madrid, unless the club are willing to sacrifice too, any move would be impossible.

The time has finally come when Chelsea have decided enough is enough. But is it too late? Have they waited too long? Will they be able to move him on? The answers to all these questions will probably be with us once the transfer window elapses.