Torres bids Atlético faithful farewell

"Something dies in the soul when a friend leaves." This maudlin line from a popular Spanish song sums up feelings of the Club Atlético de Madrid faithful after the €30m departure of their hero Fernando Torres to Liverpool FC.

Difficult moment
It is not an unusual story; a player leaving his boyhood club to take a new step in his career and in his life. Conscious of the fact that an era has come to an end, Torres knew he had to make sure he had made the right decision. "It's like a train that comes along only once in your life and you can't afford to miss it." Torres explained in an emotional farewell press conference. "An offer arrived and I asked [the Atlético board] to listen. The decision was mine. Liverpool set me objectives that I couldn't realise here in Madrid."

No9 honour
Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez is a long-standing admirer of his compatriot, and handed the forward the No9 shirt, formerly the property the likes of Ian Rush and Anfield's own homegrown hero Robbie Fowler. "The fact Liverpool are giving me the No9 shirt just goes to show the confidence they have placed in me considering those who have worn that shirt before me," Torres said.

Rise
Torres's class as a youngster emerged early as the winning goalscorer and leading striker at both the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship and 2002 U19 finals for Spain. Within a month of the first triumph Torres had made his senior Atlético debut and opened his goal account. The following season he was already a regular as the club won promotion to the Primera División and has managed double-figure goal totals in all his top-flight seasons, becoming club captain as a teenager and a stalwart of the senior Spain squad.

Passion
However even with Torres leading the line, Atlético have always fallen short of expectations. A 2004 UEFA Intertoto Cup campaign remains the 23-year-old's only experience of European club football but now he will be playing in the UEFA Champions League. And he clearly has some passion for his new club, even displaying his leanings on his old captain's armband.

Slogan
"A group of my mates and I are all Liverpool fans and we have been for some years," he revealed. "A few years back, my friends each got a tattoo on their arm but obviously as a footballer I couldn't really get that tattooed on my arm. So on my last birthday they gave me as a present the armband bearing the words 'We'll never walk alone'." Now he will be able to hear that famous anthem to which that slogan refers sung fortnightly by the Anfield choir

This is an edited version of an article from this week's uefa.com Magazine. To read it in full click here.