Just perform or perish: Torres gets the hint
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres did not appear to be in a victorious mood when his manager Andre Villas-Boas and team-mates celebrated their win over current Premier League leaders Manchester City on Monday night.
The 50-million-euro (Bt2.04-billion) striker looked gloomy after another match on the bench watching his team-mates shine. It could be a sign that his good days at Stamford Bridge are perhaps over.
Two days later, reports suggested that Torres would be offloaded in the New Year following 12 disappointing months during which he has scored just five goals in 35 appearances. The Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that the 27-year-old striker could be made available for as little as 20 million euros in the upcoming transfer window. However, the club denied this.
Villas-Boas has publicly backed the striker, insisting he was worth every penny of the 50 million euros the club spent on him. Speaking at a press conference ahead of yesterday’s match with Wigan, the manager claimed he wants to hold on to Torres.
“Fernando Torres is not for sale at any price, now or in the summer,” he said.
But the Spanish striker’s statistics explain everything. Torres has failed to impress the Blues’ fans since his big money move from Liverpool. Despite starting 11 games, the striker has scored only four goals this season, two in the Premier League and two against Genk in the Champions’ League in October.
His poor statistics explain why Chelsea were ready to take a massive financial loss on the most expensive player in British transfer history.
A comparison of Torres’ first 25 English Premier League matches with Chelsea and Liverpool
Goals scored: 3 for Chelsea and 18 for Liverpool
Goals scored per game: 0.12 for Chelsea and 0.72 for Liverpool
Average minutes played per game: 52.12 for Chelsea and 77.32 for Liverpool
Minutes per goal: 434.33 for Chelsea and 107.39 for Liverpool
Shooting accuracy: 40 per cent for Chelsea and 48 per cent for Liverpool
Source: Daily Telegraph
It may be that Chelsea really want to sell Torres, but have had to make denials because they, in fact, cannot complete the transfer in the January transfer window. Why?
First, it would be hard to find a top club to buy or match the 150,000-euros-a-week wages of the striker so soon. Barcelona and Real Madrid ruled out moves to rescue Torres from Stamford Bridge.
Second, Chelsea will face a shortage of striking options after selling Nicolas Anelka, who will join the Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua in January, and Didier Drogba will be on international duty for the Ivory Coast at the Africa Cup of Nations in the same month. If Torres leaves the London club, they will have only Daniel Sturridge as their major striker and Romelu Lukaku as the substitute.
Torres has struggled for a place in Chelsea’s starting line-up since the arrival of Villas-Boas. The World Cup winner has been frustrated as he is now behind Drogba and Sturridge in Villas-Boas’ pecking order.
The frustrated Torres should turn the crisis into an opportunity. He can prove himself when he is granted more playing time next month as his team-mate and fellow striker Drogba will be away for national duty and Anelka would be sitting in China.
The transfer news reports surrounding Torres, to put it optimistically, could be a pressure tactic or a motivational kick in the butt to perform and put the ball at the back of the net, at least for the rest of the season.
