Fernando Torres recently shrugged off speculation linking him with a move to Barcelona and is eager to find out what Jose Mourinho has planned for him.
The Spaniard is probably one of the players with the most uncertain futures at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea seek to sign a big name forward and will want to give Romelu Lukaku the chances he deserves, where does this leave Torres and Demba Ba?
Mourinho recently described Torres’ time in West London as ‘so-so’ but also said that he perhaps hasn’t been quite as bad as his critics have made out, and the 29-year-old says he’s ready to discuss his options with the manager:
“I look forward to talking with Mourinho and to know what plans he has for me.
“The first thing I am aware of is he will expect much more from me, I expect more from me. Now I have pressure Mourinho adds and that’s a challenge for a player.”
He did admit to having a close relationship with the Barca amid links of a move back to La Liga but says that isn’t in his thoughts for the time being.
“I have known Sandro Rosell for a long time.
“There is a personal relationship, but nothing more than that. My head is now in the Confederations Cup, immediately after that Chelsea.
“I want to talk with Mourinho and then prepare for the coming season.”
I’m not entirely sure what Torres sees as the best option for his career is but Chelsea deserve a reliable forward that is good enough to help make us title contenders and after finishing more than 20 points behind the league leaders in two consecutive seasons it’s definitely something that we need. Can Torres be that forward? It’s highly doubtful at this stage as he’s only managed 15 Premier League goals in his two and a half league campaigns with the club so far.
He’s had a plethora of excuses made for him since January 2011 too. First it was the manager and Didier Drogba’s fault because Torres wasn’t playing regularly enough, then it was the fault of the midfielders for not giving him the service he needs and after spending a fortune on the best creative talent around and making him the number one choice he only managed 22 goals over a whopping 64 games.
If we do sign another forward it’s going to put his nose out of joint as he will want to play for Spain at next summer’s World Cup and Lukaku is more than enough back-up for your main choice, whilst your emergency third striker could be Andre Schurrle, which makes sense as your emergency third shouldn’t expect to play there and will only take time off Lukaku if he does.
Source: Sky Sports
There’s no guarantee that Torres will start scoring more goals next season, but based on his steadily improving form over last season, I think he will. What is more certain is that with Torres playing, the team will be collectively scoring goals collectively, as he creates space with his movement.
Aagh, no edit function!