A few years ago, if you were to say that Fernando Torres would go on to become the world's best paid player, it probably wouldn't have been too much of a surprise. At the height of his powers with Liverpool, the Spaniard was almost unstoppable. For one reason or another, his peak came early, the pressure began to stack up and the level of performance decreased remarkably.
When Torres finally returned home to Atletico Madrid last season, it would have taken a cold heart to have had anything other than positive feelings for a player that had well and truly gone through the ringer. Having hit 30, it was time to settle into life as an Atletico substitute and contribute whenever he could in surroundings where the pressure was taken off his shoulders.
However, he may have no other choice than to look elsewhere once again. Torres is technically on loan to Atletico from AC Milan until the end of this season and he'll be out of contract at that point so it's up to Atletico whether to offer him a new deal or not. According to his agent, Jose Antonio Martin Otín, Torres is not short of offers but a new deal with Atletico is not yet forthcoming.
Speaking to the Sun, Otín has said that Torres has eight offers on the table including one to make him the best paid player in the world. Given recent activity in the transfer market, it would be a fairly good bet that that record offer is coming from China but despite that, Otín's remarks would suggest that Torres really just wants to get an offer from Atletico.
Fernando and Simeone should sit down and talk about it.
The fans of Madrid don’t want Torres to be told no continually. He has an offer that would make him the best-paid in the world. There are nuances. It all depends upon the will of the club.
The feeling I get is this is something that must be resolved, not between (Atletico chiefs) Gil Marin or Andrea Berta, but rather between Simeone and Torres, who are friends.
He must either tell him, ‘I am counting on you or I am not counting on you.’ The fans want his contract renewed and it is something that can’t be denied.
Torres' involvement in La Liga this season has been considerable and Atletico fans would love to see their idol given a new deal so it's quite possible that Otín is just twisting some arms in the hopes of getting the 31 year the best deal possible. Having said that however, when you consider that Alex Pato was offered over €1 million a month to play in the Chinese First Division, it's quite likely that there is a deal on the table that would give Torres a hell of retirement cheque.
Having said that, he is only 31 and he is still contributing to Atletico so let's hope he can stick around at the Vicente Calderon for a couple more years yet.
