He was one of the world’s best strikers, but now he struggles for a place in his national team’s squad.
He isn't the player he once was, but Torres version two isn’t a bad player. He isn’t as pacey, some say due to his knee’s, and this was once a vital part of his game. He is no longer the lead striker who plays off the last defender.
Would he benefit from moving further back in the field? An attacking midfield role would be much more suited to his new found style.
Nobody can fault his work rate. Whilst he is nowhere near as clinical as he once was, he still works hard on the pitch and gets involved on the ball.
Chelsea may not be the place for Torres to pursue his new role, with Eden Hazard, Oscar and Juan Mata all preferred choices for these attacking midfield roles, which they play so well in. But Torres is continuously linked with a cut price move, in the Premier League, back home and elsewhere.
He still has a footballing brain and in positions where Torres version one may have scored, he now looks to assist others. Although he is a player low on confidence, this move maybe the right one for a player who should be in his prime at the age of 29.
At £10-£15million, he’s worth a gamble and if he is paired with the right midfield partner, a club may just get the last bit of quality out of Torres before his career ends, with at least three to four years left in him.
He isn’t the only striker who is linked with a move into midfield, with some media reports suggesting Wayne Rooney’s future may lie in central midfield, operating the ‘Paul Scholes role’. Rooney hasn’t dismissed the idea himself, stating in his book that his future position may lie there.
So is it a question of the right pairing to go with Torres in a striker’s role? Or could Fernando Torres ‘midfield enforcer’ be the way forward to solve this puzzling fall of grace in a player who was once one of the deadliest strikers the Premier League has seen?
Source: DSG
