Chelsea’s £50m flop Fernando Torres is being lined up for a move back home to Atletico Madrid but his career is already over, according to a source at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues are reportedly in talks with La Liga champions Atletico over the transfer of Torres back to the club he started his football training with as a schoolboy.
The deal being discussed is in the region of £11m and a source close to Stamford Bridge told Football Express News the west London club will just have to cut its losses, branding the misfiring striker a thing of the past.
The Spanish forward joined Chelsea from Liverpool three-and-a-half years ago for a British transfer record fee of £50m.
Now 30-years-old, he was purchased then during a period of injury recovery but despite this, high hopes were placed upon him to deliver the sort of results he delivered for the Reds – lightning pace and an abundance of goals.
A prolific scorer in his Merseyside days, Madrid-born Torres has not materialised into the same world class player for Chelsea.
He scored just five Premier League goals last season and did not play a full 90 minutes over all fixtures in Chelsea’s domestic and European campaigns.
The source places all of the blame on the devastating hamstring injury he suffered during World Cup for Spain in 2010, saying this is what has held him back from being a top goalscorer for the Blues.
“The problem with Torres, is, he got knocked out of the last World Cup final against Holland, and has never recovered,” explained the insider.
“It was a very nasty injury to his hamstring, the sort of injury that can take months or even years to heal, and can often pose as a weakness indefinitely.”
He explained, for a player to regain their optimum form with such an injury it is not always a straightforward process. It is the sort of problem that typically recurs and can set a player back to square one, time and time again.
“Torres has had a continual nightmare with that injury, he would start looking good, like he was getting back into form, and suddenly tweak his hamstring on a sprint and be knocked back again,” he added.
“I’m certain this is what has held him back since he joined Chelsea and the bottom line is, it’s finished his career.
“If Chelsea can shift him back to Atletico for £11m, it would be the most sensible thing to do as he’s surplus to requirements at Chelsea.
“It is such a shame because Torres was always a very quick player, he’s proven to be a match winner and is technically accomplished.”