Fernando Jose Torres Sanz was born on March 20, 1984 and is nicknamed El Nino (The Kid in Spanish). He has played for three clubs, Atletico Madrid, Liverpool and Chelsea.
Torres started his career with Atletico Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his career with the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances.
He joined Liverpool in the summer of 2007 for a club record transfer fee of around £25 million, with Luis Garcia moving in the opposite direction. He was an immediate hit, becoming the first player since Robbie Fowler to score more than 20 goals in a season.
He was a real fans' favourite at Anfield, and formed a lethal understanding with Steven Gerrard. Injury and fatigue, coupled with behind the scenes problems at board level, however, meant that towards the end of his time at Liverpool he was unhappy and looking for a move.
In January 2011, Chelsea paid a record British transfer fee of £50 million to take him to Stamford Bridge on a five and a half year contract. It made him the fourth most expensive footballer in history.
There he won the Premiership and the Champions League, although it was not altogether a happy time. In 2015 Torres rejoined his boyhood club, Atletico Madrid, where he played until 2018.
Torres also enjoyed incredible success with the Spain international team playing 110 times for his country and scoring 37 goals. Having formed a prolific and feared partnership with David Villa, he scored the only goal and was named man of the match as they overcame Germany 1-0 in the Euro 2008 final in Austria to win Spain's first major tournament.
He won a World Cup winners medal in 2010 when he appeared for Spain during their 1-0 victory over Holland in South Africa, and a Euro 2012 winners medal.
