Fernando Torres and Football's Greatest Returning Heroes

Fernando Torres first joined Atletico Madrid as an 11-year-old and was nothing short of a phenomenon when he eventually hit his stride with the first team.

After years of watching his powers slowly wilt at Chelsea and Milan, Nando has finally returned to his home, where he appears to have rediscovered his scoring boots: On Thursday, he scored both of Atleti's goals at the Bernabeu to sink Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey.

"He left, matured and is now a man," said his delighted new manager Diego Simeone to the BBC. The 40,000 Atleti fans who turned up to welcome him on his return were no doubt equally pleased.  

Accordingly, El Nino leads our list of players who came back to the teams where they had earned hero status.

Thierry Henry

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Brought to Arsenal in 1999 as a winger, Thierry Henry was slowly sculpted by Arsene Wenger into one of the finest strikers the Premier League has ever seen. The Frenchman scored 228 goals in all competitions over eight seasons, becoming the Gunners' top scorer in the process. 

In 2007, the Frenchman moved to Barcelona but made a very welcome return to the Emirates—where a statue of him had been erected—in January 2012.

He kicked off his two-month loan from the New York Red Bulls with a typically stylish winning goal in an FA Cup match with Leeds United.

In the last game of his loan, he scored the winner in a league game against Sunderland. Without those extra two points earned, it would have been Tottenham Hotspur playing in the Champions League instead of Arsenal the following season.

Ian Rush

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Ian Rush arrived at Anfield from Chester City in May 1980 and proceeded to score 139 goals over the seven seasons that followed, leading the dominant Reds side to four league titles, an FA Cup and the European Cup.

In 1987, he accepted a lucrative invitation to play for Juventus. However, the Welshman only spent a season in Italy, as he famously struggled to settle into the continental way of life. "[It's] like being in a foreign country," he is once alleged to have said, according to The Independent's Tim Rich.

Rush came back to Liverpool in 1988, where he won another league title, two FA Cups and a League Cup. He remains Liverpool’s all-time top scorer with 346 goals in all competitions during his two stints.

Robbie Fowler

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Ian Rush isn't the only legendary Liverpool striker to make a heralded return to Anfield. 

Toxteth-born Robbie Fowler rose through the Reds' youth ranks before breaking through to the first team in 1993-94. The following season, he became a regular fixture, earning praise for scoring five goals in his first three games, including a hat-trick against Arsenal, which was scored in four minutes and 33 seconds—a Premier League record that still stands today.

In nine hugely successful seasons with Liverpool, Fowler earned the nickname "God" but was dropped by Gerard Houllier and sold at the start of the 2001-02 season.

After five seasons away at Leeds and Manchester City, Fowler returned to Anfield to play for another season-and-a-half. His 183 goals in 369 appearances will forever earn him a place in the hearts of Liverpool fans.

Johan Cruyff

Johan Cruyff broke through at Ajax as a 17-year-old in 1964 and proceeded to lead the team to six Eredivisie titles, five domestic cups and three consecutive European cups.

In 1973, he became the world’s most expensive player when he moved to Barcelona, but he hadn’t forgotten about the Amsterdammers, as he returned in 1981 after spells with the Los Angeles Aztecs, Washington Diplomats and Levante.

Despite being 34 years old, he proved the doubters wrong and won another two league titles and a cup with Ajax when he returned as a hero for two additional seasons.

Cruyff returned to the club for a third time as a manager in 1985, winning two more KNVB cups and the Cup Winners' Cup.

Jurgen Klinsmann

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Teddy Sheringham, Robbie Keane and Jermain Defoe have all made returns to White Hart Lane, but Tottenham's greatest returning hero might be Jurgen Klinsmann. 

In 1994-95, Klinsi enjoyed a dream debut Premier League season, bagging 21 goals and helping Spurs up to seventh place and an FA Cup semi-final. After that single season he then made a move to Bayern Munich, aggravating Spurs chairman Alan Sugar so much that he said he wouldn’t even wash his car with his shirt. (Who knew that Alan Sugar washes his own car?)

However, the current USA manager made an unexpected return on loan in the 1997-98 season, rescuing the Lilywhites from relegation trouble with nine goals in 15 and scoring a golazo on his final professional game against Southampton (see it at [1.25] in this video).

Lothar Matthaus

Lothar Matthaus enjoyed two dominant spells at Bayern Munich. He first came to Bavaria from Borussia Monchengladbach in 1984, helping Die Roten win three Bundesliga titles, a DFB Pokal and a European Cup silver medal.

In the summer of 1988, the World Cup-winning Germany captain made a big-money move to Inter Milan, where he won the Scudetto in his first campaign. But when a transfer to Juventus fell through in 1992, he opted to came back to his beloved Bayern.

In his second spell, the man nicknamed "Der Panzer" ("The Tank") transitioned from a box-to-box midfielder to a brilliant sweeper and earned even more success, with four more Bundesliga titles and a UEFA Cup.

His final appearance before joining the New York Metrostars in 2000 was a triumphant 4-1 Champions League victory over Real Madrid at the Olympiastadion. 

Didier Drogba

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In his first season as Chelsea boss, manager Jose Mourinho signed a precocious Marseille striker named Didier Drogba for £24 million. The Ivorian proved to be an instant success, scoring 10 times as the Blues lifted their first league title in 50 years. 

Drogba spent eight seasons at Stamford Bridge, enjoying his most prolific campaign in 2009-10, when he bagged the Premier League Golden Boot with 29 goals in 32 appearances. 

Le Drog enjoyed his finest hour in a Chelsea shirt at the 2012 Champions League final, scoring the equaliser that took Bayern Munich to extra time and the winning penalty.

A few days after, he announced his departure. However, after spells at Shanghai Shenhua and Galatasaray, the man who was voted the greatest Chelsea player of all time by a fan poll made his triumphant return for the start of the 2014-15 season. Thus far, Drogba has racked up three goals in 16 appearances.

Mark Hughes

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Mark Hughes broke through the youth ranks at Manchester United in 1980 and scored 37 goals in 89 appearances before the summer of 1986, when he was sold to Terry Venables' Barcelona in a highly unexpected move.

Sadly, Sparky didn’t quite find his groove at the Nou Camp and, after a season-long loan to Bayern Munich, was brought back to Old Trafford in May 1988 by the new manager, Alex Ferguson. Hughes won the PFA Player of the Year award in his first season back and was an integral part of the dominant side that won the Premier League in 1993—the club's first league title in 26 years—and again in 1994. 

Jens Lehmann

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Jens Lehmann joined Arsenal in the summer of 2003 as a long-term replacement for the legendary David Seaman. The slightly bonkers German had an immediate effect, forming a part of the "Invincibles" team that went the entire 2003-04 league campaign undefeated. 

Lehmann tended the net for the Gunners for five seasons and became a fan favourite before departing for VfB Stuttgart in the summer of 2008. 

The German shot-stopper announced his retirement after two seasons with Stuttgart, but in March 2011—nine months after hanging up his gloves and at the age of 41—a call of duty came from Arsenal when they suffered a goalkeeping injury crisis.

Lehmann made one start for the Gunners upon his return, a 3-1 win over Blackpool that marked his 200th game for the club.

Paul Scholes

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Paul Scholes: He scores goals.

There were 102 of them in the league over a period of 17 years, during which the Ginger Prince established himself as one of the greatest midfielders ever—contemporaries Zinedine Zidane and Xavi are among those who rated his talents very highly. 

In typically low-key fashion, the Class of '92 member announced his retirement at the conclusion of the 2010-11 campaign. However, in January 2012, Sir Alex Ferguson was faced with an injury crisis and managed to persuade Scholes to come back for one last job.

The then-37-year-old obliged and showed he still had the magic, earning his 11th league title with United in the process. 

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