Fernando Torres to Atletico Madrid Transfer News: Will Prodigal Son Make Impact Upon Return?
In 244 matches, Fernando Torres scored 91 goals for Atletico Madrid, cementing himself as one of the top scorers of the team.
He never managed to get into the top 10 on the team's scoring list (Ruben Cano sits in 10th with 97 tallies), but he will get a chance to break into that historical table in 2015 as he makes his big return to the club where he rose to fame.
The Spanish striker was presented to his new/former team on Sunday and could make his debut as soon as Wednesday when Atletico Madrid faces Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.
The move for Torres is an interesting one and presents a number of questions for both club and player. Popularity was certainly one point of reasoning behind his return, but did it make sense on the pitch?
To put things into perspective, since his departure from Madrid, Torres has played 324 games for Liverpool, Chelsea and AC Milan. In that run he has scored a total of 127 goals or 0.39 goals per game. Over his entire career he has scored 0.38 goals per game for his club sides.
His finest years came between 2007 and 2011 when he scored a whopping 81 goals in 142 matches for Liverpool (0.57 goals per game). But then numerous injuries slowed his game down when he went to Chelsea and he only managed to score 45 goals in 172 matches over the course of four seasons for the Blues. To start 2014-15, he scored exactly one goal in 10 matches for AC Milan and was subsequently dumped.
His arrival is rather baffling in all honesty. He is in steep decline (he has just 10 club goals since 2013-14) and has failed to establish himself in any other manner. He has never been a playmaker and averages 16.4 passes per game throughout his career. His passing percentage is around 70 percent through his career. Defensively, he is nothing to write home about (and why would he be as a forward). This is simply not the kind of signing that would turn a team into a contender.
And most importantly, who does he unseat in the lineup?
Anyone is the true answer.
Despite being tied for second in Spain, Atletico Madrid has not been a goalscoring juggernaut and has actually seen some inconsistency from its top offensive producers.
Antoine Griezmann leads the team with eight goals on the year, but five of those tallies have come in the last two games. Is he finally for real or getting lucky? Based on the first half of the year, he is probably getting on a bit of a streak, but whether or not he keeps it going will be something to watch.
Mario Mandzukic, who was brought in to replace Diego Costa, has been as disappointing as Pep Guardiola said he would be. He has just six goals in Spain and five in the Champions League and has not scored in the last four games with his club. Not terrible, but hardly the 20 plus goals everyone was expecting from him.
Then the team has four players with three goals on the year, emphasizing the team's scoring by committee attitude. And yet, two of those four are defenders, emphasizing this team's lack of consistent scoring up front.
Raul Jimenez has been a bust, while Alessio Cerci has done little with the chances he has been given.
So that leaves Torres as a cheap option to make some impact. While Torres is far from the ideal addition he is arriving to play in a league that is a lot less physically demanding that the Premier League and where he might have a physical advantage due to his lumbering physique. It might actually work out for him to play for a team that is actually the more physically dominant of the group rather than being on the side that takes the physical beating.
It will be interesting to see if coach Diego Simeone looks to use Torres in the same way he used Costa. Torres is no longer as fleet of foot as he used to be so making him chase after passes on a counter might not work out so well.
What comes of Torres in Madrid will be a story to watch. Will fans turn on him? Or is he ready to finish out his career with some highlights and respect?
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