Rafa Benitez admits Newcastle are interested in Fernando Torres but do his Atletico Madrid stats suggest he perhaps shouldn’t be?
Rafa Benitez has confirmed that he would be open to a reunion with Fernando Torres at Newcastle United after it was confirmed the striker would leave Atletico Madrid this summer.
Torres’ contract at the Wanda Metropolitano expires at the end of June, with the 34-year-old ending his second spell with boyhood club Atleti with a brace against Eibar on the final day of La Liga season.
“I think it will be harder for him to come for him, not because we don’t want to,” Benitez told MARCA.
“I don’t know what’s going on in his head, but maybe he is thinking about something else.
“It would be appealing, but I don’t think it would be easy.”
Benitez signed Torres for Liverpool back in 2007, with the Spaniard arguably enjoying the best spell of his career during his time at Anfield, scoring 81 goals in 142 games and finishing third in the 2008 Ballon d’Or.
The 58-year-old also managed the forward during a caretaker spell at Chelsea in 2012/13 when they won the Europa League together and now he is open to working with the Spain international at a third Premier League club.
The right decision?
While Torres has been a huge name in football, his statistics over the past 12 months are hardly a ringing endorsement for the Magpies to sign the veteran.
On the face of it, the attacker’s 10 goals in 45 appearances in 2017/18 is respectable enough, but three of those came against Spanish third tier opposition in the Copa del Rey, two more were scored during a 5-1 rout of Lokomotiv Moscow in the Champions League, and as mentioned before two were netted in a final day dead rubber.
It could be argued that now in the latter stages of his career, Torres is not even an upgrade on the current options Newcastle have upfront at St James’ Park.
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