Torres earned the reputation of being the most lethal attacker in Europe particularly after he established himself at Liverpool. He reached new heights during his time at Anfield, however then acrimoniously moved to their bitter rivals Chelsea on Winter Transfer Deadline Day of 2011.

Chelsea paid £50 million for him, making him the most expensive player in the history of the English league. The weight of the expectations on his shoulders following his transfer took its toll on him, as he struggled massively and was reduced down to merely a shadow of the player he was at Liverpool.

Chelsea recruited Jose Mourinho back to the club, and the Portugese manager has made his mark on the squad considerably as he has sidelined Torres, citing him just not good enough to spearhead Chelsea’s attack. As a result, Mourinho preferred to field a side without a single striker rather than play Torres in Monday’s 0-0 draw against Manchester United. His omission from the starting lineup has given huge impetus to rumors stating that the striker’s time could be up with the Blues.

Torres’ former team-mate at Liverpool, Jamie Carragher is now a football pundit following his retirement and he confessed that he feared an end to his stint at Chelsea, and that Torres will never manage to recapture his prime form. ESPNFC report him as saying, “As soon as Jose came in his quotes were quite negative about Torres. He started him in the first game against Hull and he was poor. I don’t think he got stripped for the second game against Villa.”

“I’ve played with Torres at Old Trafford and he tortured Nemanja Vidic, he totally took him to the cleaners on this pitch in 2009,

“But now he can’t even get on the pitch ahead of André Schürrle, who is only a winger. For me, in terms of an individual player, I don’t think we’ll ever see Torres come back to being the player we saw a few years ago against Vidic at Old Trafford.”

Carragher was speaking before the big news of today where Chelsea have signed Samuel Eto’o on a year long deal. This signing must surely confirm Carragher’s thoughts as Torres will surely get even less time on the field and may even be moved before the window closes.