I think our Torres experience was a probably a timely (but painful) lesson about never (emotionally) over-investing any one player and always needing to remain aware of the competitive and mercenary nature of the game as a whole. No matter what kind of name or reputation a club's carved out for itself over the years......if and when it falls into a weakened, uncertain position, then assets can be lost and other clubs who appear to have their shit together can begin to look extremely attractive to players who (understandably) are keen to establish their own worth and ship out for what appears to be "greener" pastures.
If you've got more or less just "one" exciting, world-class player with a lot of hope and expectation invested in them, then the sense of pain, loss and anger is going to be greatly exacerbated if they decide to leave.
The nature of football is always going to present occasions when the playing environment (behind the scenes) is uncertain and less than ideal in terms of player retention. It can take time to build an environment which both attracts and helps retain a unified player/manager collective and there's nothing quite like an ambitious, (well paid) "happy camp" when it comes to helping players feel that they are definitely where they ought to be.
Can we really reflect back in all honesty, and believe that Torres was trying to leave a "happy camp" or would it be fairer on the lad to concede that he was simply trying find one for himself, and that we didn't really have one to offer him at the time....such were the owner/managerial upheavals and general shenanigans occurring within the club back then?
I mean, we can see this more clearly now because the club has evolved and stabilized tremendously since that time, to the extent that we're now a "magnet" for ambitious players.....but back when Torres left, we had slipped into being a "repellent" and that's what made Chelsea's approach to Torres (and his acceptance) all the more unpalatable....because I think many of us knew what it really signified, and it was a very bitter pill to swallow.
