Atletico Madrid’s prodigal son Fernando Torres made an emotional return to his boyhood club this past week, in the wake of reviving his depleted career. Barring his time at Liverpool, his foreign inquisition (Chelsea and Milan) was a monumental debacle and the once ferocious beast has become a tame lamb. Torres is now merely a pale shadow of his fierceful self who is struggling to find his attacking boots.

However, opportunity cannot knock the door any better time than this, as his move Spanish capital may trigger an upturn in his fortune for numerous reasons. Currently, 32, Torres still has few years of football left in his legs and this transfer may have come as a blessing in disguise for the player who is aiming for a resurrection of his career.

But how exactly will that happen ? Let’s find out.

Firstly, Torres will now be playing under calmer and composed environment of Colchoneros, which may inturn, help him in regaining his confidence as the pressure of delivering, which he shouldered at Chelsea, is reduced by a great margin. One of the prominent reasons for his failure in London can be attributed to the staggering 50 million price tag riding on him. And very clearly, succumbed to the immense pressure.

Both club and the fans, had sky-high anticipations from him and expected him to score goals tout de suite. However, in Madrid, he’ll be cut off the slack and can play without any burden. Ofcourse, the Atleti fans would like to see the goals coming from him, but will not expect him to score goals as night follows a day.

Also, at Atletico, he will be having the liberty to reprise his creative role, a role in which he thrived during his time at Liverpool. In his prime, Torres would feed off the passes by the midfielders and on the flip side, was also seen spraying one of his won that maybe 6-7 passes away from the striker. Now with Atletico exercising the same brand of football , Torres can take solace from the fact that he’ll now be playing his forte and may settle in the squad without ruffling any feathers. Also with the assistance of sublime midfielders in the form of Koke and Diego Godin, the Spaniard may re-conjure the magical goalscoring touch he so enjoyed with the Anfielders.

Furthermore, ‘El Nino’, as he is affectionately called, has nothing to prove to the fans as he has already won the hearts of Atletico faithfuls while plying his trade there during the embryonic phase of his career. Having represented the Los Rojiblancos 243 times, Torres struck a modest 91 times and made huge strides thereby proving his potential to become a top-notch player.

The forward had garnered immense backing from the management and the fans alike during his first spell with the capital club and even after his departure, was a cult hero worshipped by the ardent supporters. And now that he has returned to familiar territory, Torres is bound to be bestowed with same amount of affection, something he was totally deviod of at London and Milan.

Looking at all these prospects, it seems that those blissful haydays are set to return and sun may shine on his shore all over again. And most impotantly, Torres can finally,eventually,ultimately… revive his career.

By Sajeesh Soman