FERNANDO TORRES: CHELSEA'S NUMBER NINE

FERNANDO TORRES: CHELSEA'S NUMBER NINE

FERNANDO TORRES: CHELSEA'S NUMBER NINE Chelsea kit man Mick Roberts is pictured printing Torres's first Chelsea shirt

Name: Fernando Torres
Nationality: Spanish
Date of Birth: 20/03/1984
Height: 6' 0" (183cm)
Weight: 11st 0lbs (70.0kg)
Previous
Clubs: Liverpool, Atletico Madr
Position: Striker

Fernando Torres arrived at Chelsea on transfer deadline day, January 31, 2011 after three-and-a-half seasons with Liverpool.

Torres's scoring pedigree in English football is without doubt. The 26-year-old netted 65 goals in 102 league appearances for the Reds and 81 in 142 games in all competitions.

He moved to the Premier League aged 23 having spent the previous 12 years at Atletico Madrid, a club based a few miles from the town of his birth on the outskirts of the capital city.

In his time at Atletico, 'El Nino' (The Kid - his nickname in Spain) was the club's youngest player and youngest captain. His debut came aged 17 and he took the armband two years later.

His first full season was a quiet start with just six goals from 36 league appearances but that became 13 from 29 games the next year and the 20-goal mark was reached in 2003/04, Torres's most prolific season in Spain and the year of his debut for the national side.

The player's subsequent emergence on the international stage and 75 goals in 174 Spanish top-flight games meant many clubs across Europe were after his signature but he chose to work under compatriot Rafael Benitez at Liverpool.

The transfer in July 2007 was valued at approximately £20 million, Luis Garcia going the other way, and Torres's first goal for the Merseysiders was against Chelsea at Anfield, opening the scoring in a 1-1 draw after getting the better of Tal Ben-Haim. It was the first of seven goals in seven games against Chelsea. It is his best return against any English club.

He scored three hat-tricks on the way to 33 goals in his first season in England, becoming the first Liverpool player since a previous wearer of the number 9 shirt, Robbie Fowler, to break the 30-goal mark in one season.

His second season returned 17 goals (injury reducing his number of appearances) as his side finished second, three points and one place above Chelsea in the league table. Last season, despite Liverpool dropping down the table to seventh, Torres accumulated a very healthy 22 goals in 32 games.

He headed to the World Cup in South Africa already a winner of the European Championships at senior international level.

In his teenage years, Torres had achieved top-scorer status for his country in both the Under 16 and Under 19 European Championships and he scored his first goal for the senior side against Italy aged 20, seven months after his first cap.

In the 2006 World Cup in Germany he scored three times in the group stage but Spain were beaten by France in the first knockout round. However there was no stopping his nation two years later at Euro 2008, Torres scoring once on the way to the final and the only goal in that match in Vienna as Germany were defeated. It was Spain's first major piece of silverware since 1964.

Last summer in South Africa, Torres struggled for full fitness and form during the World Cup having undergone surgery in April. As a result, Barcelona's Pedro took his place for a semi-final triumph over Germany.

Coach Vicente Del Bosque also left Torres out of the starting line-up for the final. Instead he came on in extra-time in the 1-0 win over Holland although he tore a muscle before the end.

Back in England this season and before joining the Blues, Torres made 26 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 11 times including both goals in Chelsea's November defeat at Anfield.

Torres becomes the first striker to inhabit the number 9 jersey since Hernan Crespo in the 2005/06 season, and follows in a long line of Chelsea greats.