Former Chelsea striker Fernando Torres has named the greatest player that he played with. Torres, who is currently on the books of Japanese club Sagan Tosu and will retire in August, had the privilege of turning out with many modern-day greats during his successful 18-year career. During his career, he was teammates with the likes of Frank Lampard, Dirk Kuyt, Xabi Alonso and Diego Forlan.
However, he believes that no player he played with stands out more than Steven Gerrard.
Torres told TeamTalk : “I always say the best player I played with is Steven Gerrard.
“I found he was the player who completed my game.
“I think my level got into a different dimension when I was on the pitch with him.
“It was an amazing three-and-a-half years playing alongside Steven and I would love to go back to those days – even for one minute.”
Torres and Gerrard were teammates at Liverpool from 2007-2011 after the Spaniard joined the Merseysiders from Atletico Madrid. It was at Anfield that Torres would go on to enjoy the best football of his career. During his four year stint with Liverpool, he scored 81 goals from 142 games in all competitions.
Torres and Gerrard formed a formidable attacking combination while they played together and it was rather a pity that the duo never managed to lift a trophy together though they did come close to lifting the Premier League title during the 2008-09 season before eventually losing out to Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United. Liverpool’s lack of silverware at the time ultimately led to Torres leaving the club and joining Chelsea in January 2011. During his heyday with the Reds, Torres was viewed as a fan favourite but his departure led to him losing the respect of many Reds die-hard supporters.
After joining Chelsea, he never managed to regain his former touch. He is widely viewed as being one of the biggest Blues flops in history after having scored just 45 goals in all competitions for the club from 172 matches. After leaving the Blues, Torres also never managed to rediscover the form that he had while he was with Liverpool and had less than successful stints with the likes of AC Milan and Atletico Madrid before moving onto Sagan Tosu.
