Fernando Torres To United?

Torres has since made a mockery of our poster

“What?! He’s scored less than Rooney could in brothel? He’s past it. He used to play for Liverpool!”

These are the reactions most Reds have to the idea of the former Athletico Madrid hitman joining our sacred club.
While there may be some validity to nearly all of those arguments, let’s look at some of the ‘facts’ as the Spaniard’s former manager used to advocate. This season Fernando Torres has helped his side lift the Champions League, has bagged four goals in his last eight starts and is still one of the most feared strikers in Europe. Torres is unhappy at being a bit-part player at Chelsea and stated after their Champions League success that he’s wants talks regarding his future.

‘El Nino’ said: “I felt I’ve been treated in a way I was expecting and not in the way for which the club bought me here.’
“We have had many conversations and now the season is finished we will have more talks to see what happens.”

Torres’s detractors will point to his record of six goals in 32 appearances this season as well as his lack of goals the previous campaign and justifiably so as there’s no denying it’s not good enough. There are mitigating factors to consider though, Torres has found himself dropped everytime he gets anything near a decent run in the side. There was the move to the famously ‘cliquey’ Chelsea dressing room, changing managers- three in less than a season- the price tag, and expectation plus the lack of real support from a lot of the fans who preferred seeing Didier Drogba start.

Should Torres come to United, he’ll have to deal with being rotated again, but if the price tag is a lot less, say £25 million, plus he still gets to play in important games then it may not be nearly as bad as his time at Chelsea. The Old Trafford dressing room is arguably a more welcoming place than the Stamford Bridge one and Sir Alex Ferguson is a far better man-manager than anyone else Torres has played for – including new flavour of the month Roberto Di Matteo.

The big stumbling block for me isn’ the price it would cost to convince Chelsea to part with their £50 million striker, it’s convincing Torres he won’t be swapping a bench in London for one in Manchester, that’s where Sir Alex Ferguson -who’s long been an admirer of the Spaniard- would have to work his magic in selling the idea to Torres. Just as a few seasons ago Fergie convinced Dimitar Berbatov there was a place for him in United’s team- he just had to fight for it, so the United boss would need to now.

With Berbatov and Michael Owen departing plus a few question marks rearing their ugly head over Chicharito’s ability to be as effective as he was in his first season, there may be a place for Torres at United.

What do you think? Is Torres good enough anymore to make an impact at Old Trafford? Could we convert our “He’s half a boy..” song?

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