If you were to think of a player whose achievements did not match the talent he showed on a football pitch, Fernando Torres at Liverpool would be one of the first that come to mind.
Signed from Atletico Madrid in 2007, Rafa Benitez brought the Spaniard to Anfield to kickstart a new era for the club. Liverpool needed goals to challenge the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea for the league title, and Torres was seen as the perfect fit.
His first two seasons saw him score 50 goals in 84 appearances. Torres was considered one of the best strikers in world football during his early years at Liverpool, and the club wanted to make sure he was appreciated as such.
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Because on this day in 2009, Torres signed a new contract at Anfield, with Liverpool moving to improve terms on what was a six-year deal reportedly worth around £70,000 per week signed in 2007.
Benitez was certainly delighted at the time. After all, the striker gem he plucked from Spain had become a global sensation within a couple of seasons.
"Fernando is one of the best strikers in the game and, at his age, can only get better,” said Benitez after Torres signed his new deal in 2009. “Every major side would want him in their team, but he has shown how much he wants to achieve success at Liverpool by committing his future to the club. He's a special talent, but still has the hunger to improve his game."
Torres himself made a promise to Liverpool fans. The previous campaign, 2008/09, saw the Reds mount a Premier League title challenge, but fall just short of Manchester United who were four points ahead.
The Spaniard knew that he wanted to win the title. He made it clear to Liverpool fans after putting pen to paper on his extension.
"I am not thinking can we win the title, I am thinking we have to win the title,” said Torres. “We came so close last season but for many of the players it was their first time experiencing the pressure of a Premier League title race."
When new contracts are agreed these days, they are usually done with an extension of a year or more. With Torres, it was slightly different.
His new deal saw him reportedly earn a pay increase with a new wage of £110,000 per week. In terms of an extension, there was none apart from the option of a further year until 2014.
Liverpool agreed to pay Torres more money but did not have the guarantee that he would stay any longer. And as it turned out, just 18 months later, he would be out the door.
A year after Torres signed his new deal, there was plenty of change coming at Anfield. Benitez had left as manager and was replaced by Roy Hodgson.
Benitez’s exit and Torres’ form meant that there was speculation over his future. If you factor in the added uncertainty of the club’s ownership and the eventual takeover by Fenway Sports Group (FSG), as well as the sales of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano, it made Torres’ position at the club even more uncertain.
But, in August 2010, Torres reaffirmed his commitment to Liverpool by stating that he would remain at the club despite the rumours. Chelsea and Manchester United were the clubs thought to be interested, but Torres made it clear he was staying put.
"My commitment and loyalty to the club and to the fans is the same as it was on my first day when I signed. I am looking forward to the challenge ahead,” said Torres in August 2010.
"This is the best club in the country so the targets and expectations are always high. Hopefully we can stay at our level. At Liverpool the aim is to fight for every title.
"It was difficult last season but we are sure we can improve this season. I am really happy to be back, really happy to stay with all my teammates. I'm excited about the new season and about the targets of the club."
Torres’ comments delighted new boss Hodgson, who had only been in the job for a few weeks. Dealing with a takeover at a club the size of Liverpool with the best players leaving wouldn’t have been easy, but the words from Torres certainly eased Hodgson’s worries.
"I've always been of the belief he would stay with the club," said Hodgson a few days after Torres’ remarks. "[Managing director] Christian Purslow, who spoke with him during the World Cup and afterwards, has always been convinced he would stay and that it was pure speculation he would go.
"But, on the other hand, it was very nice he came out and gave such a glaringly positive interview. I am sure he has sent a great cheer through the hearts of Liverpool Football Club supporters by making it clear not only is he staying, but he's looking forward to the season and is going to attempt to reproduce the form of the season before last when he was unstoppable."
But it proved to be only a temporary reprieve for Liverpool and, in the end, a £50million January transfer deadline day deal to Chelsea was secured, around 18 months after Torres signed that fresh contract deal with the Reds.
"I'm so, so happy and so, so proud to be here, finally, after these 12 days of conversations," said Torres on Chelsea TV after signing for the Stamford Bridge club. "But, at the end of the day, I can say I'm a Chelsea player and I'm really, really happy.
“This is the kind of team I like to play against because that motivates me, but it's the kind of team I want to play for. It's always very tough playing against Chelsea, it's one of the biggest teams in Europe, always fighting for everything.
"So, after this, there are no more steps forward. This is the top level. The target for every footballer is to try and play at one of the top-level clubs in the world, and I can do it now.
“I have to be very, very happy as I am. The last three or four days have been very hard for me, especially after everything I have lived in Liverpool.
"But, as I said before, I can say I'm a Chelsea player now. I'm really happy and I'm sure I am doing one big step forward in my career joining a club like Chelsea. This is a great club, a real responsibility and everyone is expecting great things about me and I'm prepared and ready for the challenge."
Torres’ comments did not go unnoticed by Liverpool fans. If they were not annoyed and upset by the deal being completed in the late hours on a cold January night, then hearing the words from their now-ex-striker definitely touched a nerve.
Hodgson had been dismissed earlier in the month and replaced by club legend Kenny Dalglish. Hodgson would quickly get a new job as West Brom manager, and it’s here where his views on the Torres saga was very different to what he said months earlier.
"Fernando's an outstanding player and a very good person, I think he'll do very well at Chelsea,” said Hodgson, after being unveiled as West Brom boss in February 2011.
"I presume he was happy to leave, I've had text messages from him, I haven't actually spoken to him.
"When you have a player like Fernando who, in the summer we had to fight to keep at the club because even then he was being courted by other clubs, you then can't be that surprised I suppose when it happens in the January window.
"Damien Comolli and I hadn't made plans for that, we thought we would have him until the end of the season at least, and I think that would have been the case had Chelsea not put such a large offer on the table.
"I wouldn't have been surprised if the club had refused lesser offers in order to keep him, but maybe this offer was sufficiently great to take it and invest it in other players. You would have to ask Damien and Kenny Dalglish."
In the months and years since leaving Liverpool, Torres has frequently spoken about the manner of his exit. Despite the negative press around his future coming during Hodgson’s tenure, he had nothing but nice words to say about the former Reds boss.
“It was a pity because Hodgson was a great coach and a great guy,” said Torres in Simon Hughes' 2016 book 'Ring of Fire'.
“They didn’t let him work. They brought in all these Australian people [a new medical team] who controlled everything: who could play, who could not. He wasn’t able to use the players the way he wanted.
"From that pre-season to the January when I left, it was a nightmare. Not just for me but for everybody, for Hodgson too.
"He was not allowed to work properly — the situation was more difficult for him than it was for anyone else. Everything was a mess. We were not good enough. In the middle of that, they finally sold the club.”
When it comes to speaking about the club itself, though, Torres’ views were different. Despite the negative press around his exit, Torres still respected and admired Liverpool fans.
In the months after his exit, he wanted to send Reds supporters a message about his move to Chelsea.
"Liverpool fans have stuck with the story the club gave and they don't know the real story," Torres told the Spanish newspaper Marca in November 2011. "I don't feel bitter towards them, they will always be special for me."
Years later, Torres would have another message for Liverpool fans. He wanted to make it clear that he still had an affection for the club and the fans, but wanted to explain the true reasons behind his exit.
Torres followed Mascherano, Alonso and Benitez in leaving Anfield within the space of a few months. The Spaniard wanted fans to know what really happened, after claiming that the club "lied" to him during his final moths at Anfield.
“I was really happy at Liverpool but if you remember at that time the club was about to be sold and it was a very difficult situation,” Torres told Talksport in September 2020.
“They sold all their best players, Javier Mascherano left, Xabi Alonso left, [manager] Rafa Benitez left, and they started bringing in young players so they needed maybe five, six, seven years to create a winning team again and I didn't have that time because I left my home in Atletico to win trophies.
“Unfortunately there was many lies by the owners that Liverpool had at that time and in the end I needed to find my own way which was Chelsea who I thought would be the club who would offer me the chance of winning trophies.”
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