Fernando Torres has openly admitted that he is struggling to settle to life in London. He says that Liverpool was a far better place to live than London because of the presence of a number of Spanish teammates as well as a much nicer neighbourhood. Settling down has been one of the major points that has been cited towards the poor form of Fernando Torres. The striker scored just five goals in 30 appearances for Chelsea, despite moving to London in the £50 million deal, which broke the British transfer record.
Fernando Torres spent the early part of his career in Madrid (playing for Atletico), and he has said that Madrid is more like Liverpool than London. Torres decided to move to Chelsea mainly for trophies, as Liverpool did not seem close to winning one. Torres said that Liverpool were in a period of decline and he could clearly see that before his eyes. Xabi Alonso’s sale to Real Madrid was one of the most important factors that led to him believing that Liverpool were never going to be able to challenge for trophies. In the end, he decided to move to Chelsea on a £50 million deal on the deadline day of January last season.
Speaking to Spanish radio, Torres said “Chelsea are based in London, and it’s a huge city. I come from Madrid, also a fantastic European ccapital city, but in London there is so much more of everything, for better and worse. It has been difficult to adapt here compared to when I first arrived in England at Liverpool – Merseyside is a more comfortable place, a smaller place, where I was practically surrounded by my Spanish team-mates.”
Chelsea manager Andy Villas-Boas has said that he is working extremely hard to fit Fernando Torres into the team. It remains to be seen if Torres will ever settle at Chelsea.