Fernando Torres Aims Liverpool Dig After Confirming Atletico Madrid Transfer

Former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has taken a swipe at his former employers by suggesting he left the club due to their lack of success on the silverware front.

The Spaniard recently joined boyhood club Atletico Madrid on loan from AC Milan after being juggled by the Italian giants and Chelsea, thus ending his three-year association with the Premier League leaders, per BBC Sport, and he appeared over the moon with the decision, via Twitter:

Reflecting on his past adventures in England and Italy, Torres appeared to aim a dig at Liverpool's failure to match his ambitions.

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Torres was nothing short of a flop at Stamford Bridge, making the transformation from a top-class striker to a laughing stock, but he declared his spell at the club a “success” due to the amount of winners’ medals he gathered compared to his Anfield days, via Iain Rogers of Reuters (via the Daily Mail): “Chelsea gave me what I was looking for when I left Liverpool…trophies. I’ll always see it as a success.”

Sure, Torres can count the Champions League, the Europa League and the FA Cup among his triumphs, but it’s clear that leaving Liverpool was his worst career move for on-pitch brilliance.

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There’s a great deal of pressure when you carry a £50 million price tag, but it's not enough for you to lose almost every ounce of skill that once came naturally.

The 30-year-old has had a torrid time as an AC Milan player, too, putting together the kind of performances from which he built his sitter-misser form, per WhoScored.com:

Going back to square one is probably a good idea for Torres, but it’s a better idea for those who constantly declare that he’s back whenever he finds the net.

It’s time for fans to stop focusing on the player the Spaniard once was. Even Liverpool fans were getting excited at the prospect of a sensational return to Anfield in the January transfer window, but it’s safe to say that ticket back to Merseyside has well and truly been torn up now.

It’s understandable, though; if any other player was as plagued by the ghost of their former selves as much as the Liverpool Torres has been, they wouldn’t exactly have the fondest memories.