Fernando Torres' Chelsea Hell: Should Chelsea Sell the Goal-Shy Striker?

Since his big-money move in January, 2011, Fernando Torres has been in the headlines, for the most part due to the wrong reasons.

The British transfer record signing, which cost Chelsea a whopping £50 million, has only netted five times in 50 appearances for the west Londoners. In fact, the Spaniard is on his longest drought yet, having failed to find the back the net in nearly 24 hours of football.

Roman Abramovich had enough faith in the Spain international to the extent of shattering the records just to get his man. Despite initially proving an uphill battle, Mr. Abramovich got his wish, winning the then Liverpool striker’s signature just hours before the transfer window shut. Just like the Russian, Torres’ arrival at Stamford Bridge was music to Chelsea supporters’ ears, too.

Chelsea fans were all smiles as the Spaniard was unveiled to the press, and they could not wait to see their newly found hero pull the Chelsea shirt on and do what he does best—score. They did not have to wait for too long, as Torres made his debut just six days later, ironically against his former club Liverpool.

Things, however, did not go according to plan as Torres failed to impress and was hauled off early in the second half. Whether it was because the blockbuster encounter against the club he’d just left came too soon or because of the hostile reception he received from Reds fans as they heavily booed each and every of Torres’ touches on the ball, Chelsea fans had no idea why their newly found ammunition misfired on his debut.

Maybe they needed to give him more time to adapt to Chelsea’s style of play and gel with his new teammates. That did not prove to be a problem, as Chelsea fans were indeed patient with the Spaniard and showed no signs of losing faith in him just two weeks into his Chelsea career.

However, Torres’ poor showing in his debut continued, eventually going on a run of 903 minutes without scoring. Opposing fans did the Spaniard no favours either, occasionally taunting Torres with a "what a waste of money" chant. Only they knew better.

As for Chelsea fans, they were left to fear the worst, as Torres looked short in confidence, a shadow of his former self. All Blues supporters’ blushes would, however, be spared, as Torres finally broke his duck (over two months after his arrival) scoring once in a 3-0 win against West Ham.

It was a proud moment for Chelsea fans, who celebrated Torres’ strike as if it was a cup-winning goal. Having got the all-important first goal, fans only hoped it would kick-start his Chelsea career. But fans were, again, left biting their nails, as the Chelsea No. 9 failed to follow it up in the 2010/11 season’s remaining games, ending the campaign with that solitary goal to his name.

More sad news would follow, as his poor form would continue into the 2011/12 season, with Torres failing to score in the opening five matches.

His first goal of the season came in a Premier League game against Manchester United. His strike was, however, overshadowed by a terrible miss with an empty goal gaping.

And despite scoring another goal early on against Swansea, he was infamously red-carded for a reckless two-footed lunge on Mark Gower just 10 minutes later. His goal-scoring exploits returned against Genk in the Champions League. He,however, has not scored since.

His continued disappointing displays have inevitably led to Torres being labeled a flop, drawing comparisons to former £30 million Chelsea striker Andry Shevchenko, who also failed to live up to expectations at Chelsea.

But if records are to be used as the point of reference, ‘Sheva’ had a much better goal tally then ‘Nando,’ with the Ukrainian having scored 14 goals in first 50 appearances for Chelsea.

Maybe it is only fair that Torres be compared with a current Chelsea player who was signed in the same day as Torres—centre-back David Luiz. Perhaps embarrassing for Torres, the Brazilian has, in fact, scored as many goals as the Spaniard, in 42 games—and Luiz is a central defender!

In Chelsea’s most recent encounter with Stoke, Torres was an unused substitute, with Didier Drogba preferred. The irony is that Torres was signed as the Ivorian’s long-term successor, yet the Spaniard finds himself behind Drogba, 33, in the pecking order.

Torres’ international career is in disarray, too, having been left out of the Spain squad recently by coach Vicente Del Bosque, who made it clear that Torres will not be named in the Euro 2012 squad if his form does not improve.

The big question is, should Chelsea consider selling Torres in the summer?

It is worth noting that the former Atletico Madrid star will be turning 28 later this month and does not have much time left as most players’ performance tends to wane after their 30th birthday. But even if the Blues do indeed decide to cash in on him, one thing is certain—Chelsea won’t get anywhere near recouping the £50 million they forked out for his services.