By the time Fernando Torres actually signed his contract with Chelsea, there were less than 15 minutes of the transfer window remaining. But a tense and difficult day -- a tense and difficult few months -- finally ended well for Torres. He got what he wanted.
In the end the desire simply to leave -- and leave as soon as possible -- overshadowed all else.
And when Fernando Torres ill-advisedly used the phrase "big club" upon his arrival at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool supporters could hardly have been more annoyed, their pride pricked.
And yet with that phrase, Torres had actually uttered words of truth. His truth, for sure, but a truth. This move was not about money or betrayal. In fact, Torres himself felt betrayed. Wrongly, perhaps, but the sense of letdown was real. He has certainly come out of this as the bad guy.
Even more bluntly, they weren't good enough for Torres. When he joined Liverpool, he looked up at the Anfield club. Now, he looked down at it and wondered what had happened. He could not see how he would win anything with Liverpool.
When the sale of the club went through at the High Court in the autumn, there was hope. There was a renewed sense of collectiveness about the club but some of the players did not necessarily share that. There was also frustration, originally sparked by the utter failure of the previous owners and still simmering. And those new hopes threatened to go unfulfilled. Under Roy Hodgson, a manager whose decisions Torres and other players could not understand, things were getting even worse on the pitch. Off the pitch, Liverpool's new owners were moving slowly. Sensibly, you might say.
Where, Torres asked himself, was the investment? His perspective became strikingly short-term, there was no patience: what, he asked, am I going to be doing for the rest of this season? Fighting off relegation? That's not what I signed up for.
The reason it all happened so late was simple: Chelsea feared that Manchester City would become involved and prompt an auction. It waited until City had signed Edin Dzeko, satisfying their striking needs, before making the bid. When Chelsea did, Liverpool told Torres. It would be naive to assume that Torres had no idea at all that there was a bid coming, that there had been sounding out whatsoever, no inkling of what was being cooked up. But he could not control it. Liverpool, for its part, could have turned it down flat and carried on regardless. Instead, it told the striker about the bid. To which he said: "OK, well let's negotiate, then."
Torres was not sure he would get another chance to move to a club as competitive as Chelsea. He had not initially anticipated the bid this winter. Now he was being presented with an opportunity. If he turned it down, he feared being trapped. Would that train pass through the station again? If he waited until the summer and there still wasn't any optimism at Liverpool, if he had endured a mediocre season, would anyone come in for him then? Would he be stuck? Between a Champions League campaign or a relegation battle, the choice was obvious -- if shortsighted. If Alonso and Mascherano had gone, why shouldn't he?
Torres had hoped for a negotiated departure. He had no interest in forcing an exit that brought flames to his shirt. Alonso remains popular. Going to Chelsea made that impossible for Torres but he hoped to be tolerated and understood.
Liverpool's owners, on the other hand, saw no reason why they should allow him to leave as a victim. A sale might not be a bad idea -- but on their terms. They were sensitive to the reaction of fans. They needed it to be clear that it was the players' fault, that they had had little choice but to sell, even if they wanted to. They would have preferred to keep him, for sure, but this was not a bad option. By revealing that there was a chance to leave and then taking it away, they flushed him out. They forced him to make the next, potentially damaging move.
That, certainly, was Torres' perception. He felt promises had been broken about investment and that there was little reason for optimism. There was just inertia. He felt that Liverpool should have convinced him to stay, enthused him with their plans. But they never did. Luis Suárez's arrival was viewed from the outside as a exactly that, as a gesture -- a symbol of the club's ambition. A way of convincing him. But it didn't: it was viewed by Torres merely as confirmation that they club were already counting on the money from his sale. That, in fact, given that he no longer appeared committed to the club, they didn't mind the idea of him moving on.
Make no mistake, Torres wanted that sale too and there was only one way to make it happen. He handed in a transfer request. The cards were on the table.
Ultimately, Torres got what he wanted: a move to Chelsea. But so did Liverpool's owners: they sold an unhappy player, raised £50 million in return, and had themselves a bad guy. They acted quickly and effectively to replace him, reinforcing their status in the eyes of the supporters. For just £8 million ($13M), they looked bold and ambitious where before it had been precisely the apparent lack of ambition and decisiveness -- or, perhaps more accurately, economic capability -- that hastened their demise. There were no U.S. flags burning this time as there had been under Gillet and Hicks -- the real villains in Liverpool's recent history. Instead, there was a Torres shirt.
Fernando Torres, Liverpool's No. 9. Now Chelsea's. It doesn't really have the same ring to it. He had become such an idol; now he is a fallen one, loathed where once he was loved. In the end, everyone was happy. But deep down, no one was
If you read this, mostly the bolded bits, its quite clear who instigated and masterminded all this. Torres. Not anyone at the club now. The blame falls squarely on Torres' shoulders. And I hope that the last line is true, I really hope he is not happy.
