Fernando José Torres

Fernando José Torres Sanz (born March 20, 1984) is a Spain soccer player. He was born in Fuenlabrada, a large suburban town south of Madrid and was the youngest player to play for Atlético Madrid and the youngest to become captain (at age 19). Nicknamed 'El Niño' (The Kid) for his youthful looks, Torres is a striker for Spain national football team and Liverpool F.C..

Torres scored 75 goals over 5 seasons in the Spanish top flight, with only Samuel Eto'o and David Villa scoring more in the same period. Torres also played two seasons in the second division where he scored 7 goals in 40 games.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

In 1994, at the age of ten, Torres scored 55 goals in his first season with an eleven-a-side team, Rayo 13, and won himself a trial with Atlético Madrid. He impressed and joined the club in 1995. After progressing through the ranks for a few seasons Torres won his first important youth title in 1998. Atlético sent an under-15 team to compete in Nike Cup Europe against youth teams from such teams as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Manchester United and Juventus. Atlético won the tournament with Torres their leading player. He was later voted as the best player in Europe for that age-group.

In 1999, Torres signed his first contract with the club. In 2000 he broke his leg and didn't return to action until December. Toward the end of the 2000–01 season Torres made his first team debut for Atlético. The date was May 27, 2001, the venue Vicente Calderón Stadium and the opponent CD Leganés. He scored his first goal for the club the following week, in a game against Albacete Balompié.

2001–02 saw Atlético win promotion back to La Liga. The then 17-year-old Torres didn't have the best of seasons in front of goal though, netting only 6 times in 36 appearances in the Segunda División. In November Torres represented Spain at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship. He scored one goal in three games, but the team didn't progress past the group stage. Later that season in July, Torres won the 2002 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship. Again he scored the only goal in the final and ended as the tournament's leading goalscorer (4 goals in 4 games) and best player.

Again in 2007, Torres's future at Madrid was the subject of much speculation after Atlético's inability to secure a UEFA Cup spot. Arsenal F.C., Chelsea F.C., Liverpool F.C. and Manchester United were all linked with a move for the player. Following the end of the La Liga - 2006/2007, reports in the English media stated that Torres was the main transfer target of Liverpool.

The rumours reached such a fever pitch that Atlético president Enrique Cerezo made a statement saying "We've received no offer from Liverpool or any other club or player".
However, a few days later new reports suggested that Atletico had agreed a deal with Liverpool for Torres, the fee rumoured was £20 million with Luis Javier García Sanz moving in the opposite direction in a separate transfer deal. Then on 30 June Atlético announced a deal with Villareal to sign Diego Forlán (seen as a potential replacement for Torres).

On July 2 it was reported that Torres had cut short his holiday to fly back to Madrid to finalize the move. The next day Torres passed a medical for Liverpool and it was announced that a farewell press conference would be held in Madrid the on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético Madrid fans. Later that day, Atlético officially confirmed his transfer to Liverpool on their website.

Liverpool

Torres is Liverpool F.C.'s current record signing — his transfer was for £26.5 million. It was widely reported that Torres took a pay cut as part of the transfer. A drop from £103,000 a week in Spain, to about £90,000 according to The Times.

On August 11 Torres made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Aston Villa in a 2-1 win. He scored his first English Premier League goal on his Anfield debut on August 19, in the 16th minute in a 1-1 draw against Chelsea F.C.; running on to a Steven Gerrard pass, he took the ball past Chelsea's defender Tal Ben Haim and slotted it into the Chelsea net. The controversy regarding this game and how it was influenced by a wrong decision by referee Rob Styles has been much discussed (see Rob Styles)

Torres scored two more goals against Derby County - his first at the famous Kop end - on September 1 in a 6-0 thrashing, making it three goals in his first four games in the Premier League. The Liverpool supporters have already displayed a great deal of affection for the young Spanish striker, as evident by Fans giving him the chant that had previously belonged to Robbie Fowler during the Derby County match.

International career

In February 2001, Torres won the Algarve Tournament with the Spain under-16 team. In May, the under-16s took part in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship, which they also won, with Torres scoring the only goal in the final.

Fernando stars in 'El Canto del Loco's music video for 'Ya Nada Volvera a Ser Como Antes'.

He also has a cameo appearance in Torrente 3, a 2005 Spanish comedy where he plays himself, and diverts danger by juggling a hand grenade like a football.

His name "Fernando" has been tattooed on the inside of his left wrist in the Tengwar.