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Arsenal, Man Utd and Spurs target states intention
Written by Sawyer | 17th July 2006 | 0 Comment(s)
Spanish striker Fernando Torres has told his agent he intends to remain at Atletico Madrid for now.
The 22 year old had been expected to move away from Atletico this summer after he was linked with Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle and several Italian clubs.
Torres' representative Antonio Sanz gave a statement on the striker's future saying: ‘'neither us, nor the club, has received an offer from Manchester United, or any other clubs for that matter.'' Of course that could change with the expected exit of Ruud van Nistelrooy.
''The player's intention is to remain at Atletico Madrid; on July 21 Torres will join Atletico Madrid for pre-season training'', said Sanz.
He added, ‘'After the World Cup, there has been interest from Italian clubs but not from English clubs, and there hasn't been anything concrete.''
Speculation of Torres moving had slightly been muted due to a deal that has taken place between Atletico and the Madrid authorities where the Spanish club has sold their stadium to the City, which has subsequently been loaned back to them in a similar manner to which Real Madrid gained finances from their training ground (around £70 million) when heavily in debt in the late nineties.
The move saw them out of debt and able to acquire many of the World's top stars, which is what Torres will undoubtedly be hoping for at Atletico.
During the ‘January window' Atletico rejected a £20 million bid from Tottenham Hotspur and it was also believed that Newcastle United had also tabled an offer for the 22-year-old striker.
At that time of course Tottenham were in a good position to qualify for the Champions League, but since being overhauled by Arsene Wenger's team most pundits believed Torres was likely to join his Spanish colleagues Jose Antonio Reyes and Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal, especially with Thierry Henry announcing his allegiance.
It was always going to be a wrench for Torres to leave Atletico, where he enjoys cult status similar to that of Raul at Real and Francesco Totti at Roma, due to the fact he has supported the club all his life.
Atletico has already acquired Argentine wonder-boy Sergio Aguero as a partner for Torres, and have also signed attacking full-backs Giourkas Seitaridis and Mariano Pernia.
New manager Javier Aguirre, formerly of Osasuna, has worked hard to convince his star forward the club is heading in the right direction and coupled with the efforts of newly-installed sporting director Javier Garcia Pitarch, they would appear to have persuaded the Atletico board not to cash in on Torres after all.
There had been a previous concern that Torres would leave the club after Atletico coach Aguirre had told a Spanish newspaper, ‘'I've spoken to Fernando and he hasn't been able to guarantee his presence in the team in the forthcoming season.''
Torres scored 3 goals during the World Cup and helped his club to a 12th place finish in La Liga last season.
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