After seven-and-a-half years away from Atletico Madrid, Fernando Torres finally realised his dream and returned to the Vicente Calderon.
El Nino is back, whilst the atmosphere surrounding his homecoming in Madrid is electric.There were 45,000 supporters in the home stadium to welcome him this weekend, via BBC.
"Fernando is a player of the house that has generated great enthusiasm, he has come to contribute and he wants to make things right," said defender Diego Godin to the Daily Mail.
The Uruguayan showed that it's not just the fans that are getting carried away with his arrival, as he and Antoine Griezmann celebrated their goals on the weekend against Levante utilising the "archer" pose that Torres has used throughout his career.
"I was a 24-year-old kid. It was very hard [to leave], the hardest decision of my career," Torres told the press at his unveiling, per The Guardian.His transfers haven't always been the correct ones or at the right time, but it's arguable they have all been best for both Torres and the departing club.
As the forward states Atletico Madrid has grown in his absence, whilst at Liverpool he left a side that had been poorly run for years and at 27, he couldn't afford to waste more time.
"At Liverpool, I had almost everything but titles," Torres explained to French magazine So Foot, via The Mirror.
"There, I felt like a king but the team was falling apart. The directors had sold Mascherano to Barca, then Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid without investing any of the money to compensate for the departure of these two key players."
He won those titles at Chelsea, but never discovered the form that made him one of the world's deadliest strikers.
Torres will now aim to recreate his passion for the game, whilst collecting the top prizes simultaneously.The World Cup winner is a different player from the one that left Spain, but the Atleti fans will have followed his progression close enough to know that he isn't as quick due to injury problems.
Diego Simeone can restore lost confidence and help with any mental issues."Fernando hasn't come here as some kind of saviour and I am in no hurry for him to start delivering right from day one – he will need time to adapt," the Argentine sensibly suggested, via Goal.com.
However, he will need to produce at some stage for the feel-good factor to continue.No one should expect him to recover his peak, as his body won't allow for that explosiveness, but he can still score goals in the right system and offer a variation in attack.
It's about playing to the strengths of the Torres of 2015 and not the speed merchant of 2007.He can use his experience of winning titles, injuries and adjusting to various situations to aid youngsters like Angel Correa and Griezmann.
The attacker hasn't looked particularly comfortable in a front two, but that's an avenue that Simeone should now explore.
Alongside Mario Mandzukic he might find more space, whilst his own runs may take defenders away from the Croatian.
Torres in Madrid is a fantastic fairy tale that only gets a happy ending if he delivers to some degree on the pitch.
Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2319497-fernando-torres-boost-will-only-last-for-atletico-madrid-if-he-delivers
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