His head may have been in Madrid but his heart was already in Liverpool.
Even though Fernando Torres didn’t actually realise it, his fate was already sealed.
A flick of the arm, a fleeting connection with a defender jostling for the ball and the ripped skipper’s armband revealed his destiny. The words were clear: ‘We’ll Never Walk Alone’
It wasn’t a ‘come and get me plea’ to Rafa Benitez. Far from it. Instead, the words were meant to signify the bond that existed between Torres and his friends. It was their motto. A play on the words used in famous song adopted by Liverpool Football Club as their anthem.
His friends had the words tattooed on their forearm. Torres, aware of the controversy it would cause opted out so they gave him an armband with the words inscribed on the inside. Their secret – until a clash with a Real Sociedad defender on April 23, 2007 revealed them to the world.
“Destiny seemed to have decided that if I ever left Atletico Madrid it would be for Liverpool,” he said.
“It happened in San Sebastian, in northern Spain, when I was playing for Atletico Madrid against Real Sociedad. I was battling with a defender, and the captain’s armband I was wearing came loose and fell open.
“As it hung from my arm, you could see the message written on the inside, in English. We’ll Never Walk Alone. It wasn’t what I had intended but right there and then I became identified with Liverpool. I hadn’t planned for it, and a future at Anfield hadn’t even crossed my mind but that moment of chance. That accident came to symbolise the next big step in my career: my captaincy at Atletico gave way to the words that define Liverpool.
“All my best friends have the words tattooed on their arms. We were eating together once and they suggested that I do the same. I told them I couldn’t. ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is a phrase so intimately linked to one of Europe’s biggest clubs, so clearly associated with Liverpool, that I didn’t think it was a good idea.
“I was an Atletico player and a rojiblanco through and through. They decided to give me a new captain’s armband for my birthday with the phrase on the inside so that, even if I wouldn’t get it tattooed on my arm, we would never walk alone.
“I gave the armband to the Atletico kit man, who kept it with the team’s shirts. When it slipped down that day against Sociedad, an eagle-eyed photographer snapped the picture and I was immediately linked to Liverpool.
“Maybe that day I took my first steps towards Anfield, or maybe it was because I already shared things with Liverpool. I identify with the values that define the club: hard work, struggle, humility, sacrifice, effort, tenacity, commitment, togetherness, unity, faith, the permanent desire to improve, to overcome all obstacles...Once a week Liverpool fans feel like the most important people on earth and make the players feel like it to. They give everything and they ask for nothing in return.
“Liverpool FC is a club that despite being used to winning never succumbs to the temptation to start cruising. If you play well the fans enjoy it, and if you play badly they help you get over it. The Liverpool family helped me off the pitch too. It’s as if you live in a neighbourhood where everyone knows you and everyone joins forces for the same cause: the team. Good people, honourable people, who have always got back on their feet however many times destiny has knocked them down. The harder things have been, the more united they have become.”
Torres was tracked by virtually every club in Europe. He wanted to play out his career at Atletico Madrid but eventually realised he must move to achieve his footballing dreams. When Liverpool came calling it provided him with a date with destiny.
He added: “Having turned down various proposals, Rafa Benitez’s call made me reflect and start to have doubts for the first time. I decided it was the right moment to leave and I asked Miguel-Angel Gil Marin, Atletico’s owner, to listen to Liverpool’s offer.
“I didn’t know that Liverpool was the most successful club in England. Since Rafa went to Anfield and took Spanish players with him I had got to know Liverpool better but I didn’t realise that. I thought they were some way behind the teams that I assumed dominated English football: Manchester United and Arsenal. I was surprised when I found out just how incredible their history was and how many titles they had won.
“Istanbul revealed Liverpool’s true spirit. The Spanish television channel Canal Plus broadcast a report about the history of the club after they had won their fifth European Cup in Turkey – about the tragedies at Heysel and Hillsborough, the connection between players and fans, the struggle against adversity.
“The commitment to overcome difficulties and stand tall, the ability to face up to every situation and beat it, it is reserved for true giants. Liverpool FC is a special and complete club, one that plays and fights, that gives everything for the people that follow it.
“I had heard the names that are most associated with Liverpool: Dalglish, Rush, Souness, Keegan, Owen, Fowler, McManaman, Hamann... As someone who has always followed those players who come through the ranks at their clubs, I was especially interested in a young lad from the youth team called Steven Gerrard.
“In the 1980s Liverpool were practically invincible. I was told that the European ban they suffered after Heysel made them stronger domestically, even though they had an important handicap with less of a presence on the international club stage. Rafa Benitez, who has changed things at the club and revived some of the old Liverpool philosophy, giving the club a global presence again."
Even though Fernando Torres didn’t actually realise it, his fate was already sealed.
A flick of the arm, a fleeting connection with a defender jostling for the ball and the ripped skipper’s armband revealed his destiny. The words were clear: ‘We’ll Never Walk Alone’
It wasn’t a ‘come and get me plea’ to Rafa Benitez. Far from it. Instead, the words were meant to signify the bond that existed between Torres and his friends. It was their motto. A play on the words used in famous song adopted by Liverpool Football Club as their anthem.
His friends had the words tattooed on their forearm. Torres, aware of the controversy it would cause opted out so they gave him an armband with the words inscribed on the inside. Their secret – until a clash with a Real Sociedad defender on April 23, 2007 revealed them to the world.
“Destiny seemed to have decided that if I ever left Atletico Madrid it would be for Liverpool,” he said.
“It happened in San Sebastian, in northern Spain, when I was playing for Atletico Madrid against Real Sociedad. I was battling with a defender, and the captain’s armband I was wearing came loose and fell open.
“As it hung from my arm, you could see the message written on the inside, in English. We’ll Never Walk Alone. It wasn’t what I had intended but right there and then I became identified with Liverpool. I hadn’t planned for it, and a future at Anfield hadn’t even crossed my mind but that moment of chance. That accident came to symbolise the next big step in my career: my captaincy at Atletico gave way to the words that define Liverpool.
“All my best friends have the words tattooed on their arms. We were eating together once and they suggested that I do the same. I told them I couldn’t. ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is a phrase so intimately linked to one of Europe’s biggest clubs, so clearly associated with Liverpool, that I didn’t think it was a good idea.
“I was an Atletico player and a rojiblanco through and through. They decided to give me a new captain’s armband for my birthday with the phrase on the inside so that, even if I wouldn’t get it tattooed on my arm, we would never walk alone.
“I gave the armband to the Atletico kit man, who kept it with the team’s shirts. When it slipped down that day against Sociedad, an eagle-eyed photographer snapped the picture and I was immediately linked to Liverpool.
“Maybe that day I took my first steps towards Anfield, or maybe it was because I already shared things with Liverpool. I identify with the values that define the club: hard work, struggle, humility, sacrifice, effort, tenacity, commitment, togetherness, unity, faith, the permanent desire to improve, to overcome all obstacles...Once a week Liverpool fans feel like the most important people on earth and make the players feel like it to. They give everything and they ask for nothing in return.
“Liverpool FC is a club that despite being used to winning never succumbs to the temptation to start cruising. If you play well the fans enjoy it, and if you play badly they help you get over it. The Liverpool family helped me off the pitch too. It’s as if you live in a neighbourhood where everyone knows you and everyone joins forces for the same cause: the team. Good people, honourable people, who have always got back on their feet however many times destiny has knocked them down. The harder things have been, the more united they have become.”
Torres was tracked by virtually every club in Europe. He wanted to play out his career at Atletico Madrid but eventually realised he must move to achieve his footballing dreams. When Liverpool came calling it provided him with a date with destiny.
He added: “Having turned down various proposals, Rafa Benitez’s call made me reflect and start to have doubts for the first time. I decided it was the right moment to leave and I asked Miguel-Angel Gil Marin, Atletico’s owner, to listen to Liverpool’s offer.
“I didn’t know that Liverpool was the most successful club in England. Since Rafa went to Anfield and took Spanish players with him I had got to know Liverpool better but I didn’t realise that. I thought they were some way behind the teams that I assumed dominated English football: Manchester United and Arsenal. I was surprised when I found out just how incredible their history was and how many titles they had won.
“Istanbul revealed Liverpool’s true spirit. The Spanish television channel Canal Plus broadcast a report about the history of the club after they had won their fifth European Cup in Turkey – about the tragedies at Heysel and Hillsborough, the connection between players and fans, the struggle against adversity.
“The commitment to overcome difficulties and stand tall, the ability to face up to every situation and beat it, it is reserved for true giants. Liverpool FC is a special and complete club, one that plays and fights, that gives everything for the people that follow it.
“I had heard the names that are most associated with Liverpool: Dalglish, Rush, Souness, Keegan, Owen, Fowler, McManaman, Hamann... As someone who has always followed those players who come through the ranks at their clubs, I was especially interested in a young lad from the youth team called Steven Gerrard.
“In the 1980s Liverpool were practically invincible. I was told that the European ban they suffered after Heysel made them stronger domestically, even though they had an important handicap with less of a presence on the international club stage. Rafa Benitez, who has changed things at the club and revived some of the old Liverpool philosophy, giving the club a global presence again."
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