Fernando Torres

Few players have meant as much to Atlético de Madrid as Fernando Torres. Born in Fuenlabrada, on the southern edge of Madrid, in 1984, he joined the club's academy as a boy and came through every youth team at a time when Atlético were at their lowest: relegated to the Segunda División in 2000. When he made his first-team debut in 2001, still only 17, the club needed a hero, and the fans found one.

The boy who carried the club

Torres's goals helped Atlético win the Segunda División in 2001–02 and return to La Liga. Fast, brave and lethal in front of goal, he became the face of the club, and at just 19 he was handed the captain's armband. For a fan base that had suffered relegation, a home-grown striker wearing the band was a symbol of pride. Season after season he was the team's top scorer, and he became a regular for Spain, scoring the winner in the Euro 2008 final in Vienna.

Leaving, and always coming back

In 2007 he joined Liverpool, where he became one of the most feared forwards in the Premier League, before moving on to Chelsea and AC Milan. But the story was never finished. In January 2015 he returned to the Vicente Calderón, and around 45,000 fans came to welcome him home at his presentation. Days later he scored twice at the Santiago Bernabéu in the Copa del Rey, as if he had never been away.

A last chapter with silverware

Under Diego Simeone, Torres became a different kind of leader: less of a sprinter, more of a mentor, still scoring important goals. He passed 100 goals for the club, and in May 2018 he finally won a major European trophy in red and white, the UEFA Europa League in Lyon. His farewell weeks later, with two goals against Eibar at the Wanda Metropolitano, was one of the most emotional afternoons in the club's history.

Legacy

After a final spell in Japan with Sagan Tosu, Torres returned to the club to coach in the academy, first the Under-19s and then Atlético's reserve team. For a generation of supporters he remains the player who stayed loyal when the club was down, and who proved that you can leave Atlético without ever really leaving it.