The curse of Chelsea’s number nine shirt. A tormented, haunted and cursed jersey designed to ruin careers and make a player perform levels below their best. Whether it’s a Ballon d’Or winner or a promising young midfielder, the curse escapes nobody. Perhaps except Tammy Abraham.
As we pass through every coming January, less and less is made of the transfer window that comes with the new year. It’s become less of a reinforcement opportunity a more a month of opportunist panic buys. Relegation threatened sides splash out in desperation to save themselves. There’s no exact science to the window, but the more you spend, the worse off, in general, the club usually is.
That being said, we shouldn’t expect much action from Chelsea this month. Unless the club pushes out enough players for decent return, there will be no incomings. Declan Rice will have to wait until the summer, sigh.
Just because there isn’t likely to much but crazy rumours of early swoops for Erling Haaland, Jose Gimenez and Gianluigi Donnarumma doesn’t mean we can’t have fun. So, here’s a little review of Chelsea’s most expensive January transfer window signing. One of the most notable transfers in the past decade, Fernando Torres.
Fernando Torres, Chelsea’s most expensive January transfer
More to the point, Fernando Torres wasn’t the first and he won’t be the last. There was a big money move, an air of desperation that clouded his time in London, and the unfortunate goal drought that summed up his playing days in Blue. However, his time at Stamford Bridge was surely remembered successfully even if what happened on the pitch was so often the polar opposite. The game and trophy winning moments, the repressed cult status of a player that once again made Chelsea not just a place of work, but a home.
For Torres, it was never for a lack of trying or passion. You could always see the discomfort running through his embarrassed face or the slumped body language associated with a striker when it simply isn’t going their way.
Chelsea fans didn’t have to force a love for Torres though, it came naturally. He was never the spoilt Spaniard, he didn’t complain or throw the toys out of the pram. He was part of a Chelsea side that went on to do something that no other London side ever has. The moments provided by Torres with the famous number nine on his back were so usually ridden with despair that those special fractions of a period that went well became so much more valuable.
It was a mixed ride, the best moments were truly brilliant and the worst will haunt some fans even to this day, but even now, Fernando Torres and Chelsea don’t have a poor relationship and they never will.
Breaking the drought
The light at the end of the tunnel. This is a best moment for a reason. The relief, the jubilation and the parting of the soaked Stamford Bridge grass as Fernando Torres ran to slide and set sail on his knees. His journey was to the corner flag away to the right hand side of the goal in front of the Matthew Harding End. With those fans seeing the Spaniard score for the first time in Chelsea Blue.
His wet through team mates sprinted to celebrate and congratulate Torres in the corner. Piling on top of him, pushing him deeper into his dreams. This was the start of his career in London, finally.
It had taken 14 games, 734 minutes and almost three months, but it was worth it in the end. Fernando Torres was on the scoresheet.
“It’s Torres, to take Chelsea to the Champions League final”
Need I say much more? Perhaps this was the moment that truly endeared Torres to all Blues fans, forever. As he somehow wandered onto a hoofed clearance from Ashley Cole inside the Chelsea box, Torres managed to almost comically find himself with a whole half in front of him. Completely open.
The Camp Nou was silent, the horror facing the Colosseum was enough to startle even the smallest gasp. It was the 21-year old Atletico Madrid captain, the Spaniard in Spain, one of the most feared strikers of the past five years and he was one on one to send Barcelona crashing out of the Champions League.
The year that Lionel Messi broke the record for number of goals scored in a calendar year, the most famous goal scored at the Argentine’s home ground was from a Chelsea player.
Victor Valdes bowed down in front of Torres as he approached the goal, making the moment even better. Eddie Newton and Roberto Di Matteo were ecstatic and Chelsea had found their way into a European Cup final. The biggest of them all. It was Torres’ moment.
Beating Manchester City
Hardly a big game player, Torres still produced those big game moments when it mattered. His last-minute goal to beat Manchester City was another of those.
In a top of the table clash at Stamford Bridge in which the home side had taken the lead and been pegged back by Sergio Aguero, the game was ebbing out into a rather deflating draw for both teams.
Here is where Torres encapsulated the hearts of Chelsea fans, his workrate was always of an elite professional. Never one to dawdle and be down, his attitude to chase balls to the final second and to press unrelentingly was fresh.
Even if he had lost the pace he once had, or he showed such limited signs of being the same technically astute tricky forward he once was, running himself into the ground was a non-negotiable part of his game.
It was this energy that forced a mistake from Nemanja Nastasic, who headed the ball over the one rushing Joe Hart, into the path of Torres.
It was always an open goal with Torres, the inevitability of the goal added to his need for it to be as simple as possible. Never the less, he was always there.
As he stood, pitbull like, in front of the away City fans, pandemonium happening around him. He had done it again.
Making the Bridge a home
It isn’t just the game winning moments that make a player special to a fanbase. It’s the uncanny ability to bring joy to those who pay money, begging to be entertained. Torres wasn’t a massive entertainer but his attitude and desire at Stamford Bridge won’t be forgotten. Even for a £50 million signing who’s goal return was poor, at best, he has only left positive feelings in London.
He managed to turn Stamford Bridge into a second home. Despite the rivalry with Liverpool, Rafa Benitez coming a year and a half after Torres’ arrival in London, there was no animosity.
By embracing the winning culture, the highest of high standards, and the competition at the club, Torres slotted in. Even when the on-pitch matters were against him or going south, his ambition never died.
There is almost no doubt that Torres’ time was successful, even if it was better for the club than it was for him.
Written by Tom Coley @tomcoley49
Edited by Jai Mcintosh @jjmcintosh5