Chelsea striker Fernando Torres, who left the club on a two-year loan deal to join Serie A side AC Milan in the summer transfer window, has publicly confirmed that he decided to leave the club on his own accord, as opposed to news reports suggesting that manager Jose Mourinho wanted him out personally.
The deal means that he will see out the rest of his current contract in Italy, but Chelsea can extend it at any time if they feel as though he is a valuable asset to the team - Torres is eager for first-team chances and fellt unhappy with the lack of opportunities he got towards the end of the last campaign.
The club brought in Diego Costa, Loic Remy and Didier Drogba in the summer, with Torres feeling less likely to get much game time, needing a move.
The £50million pound signing from Liverpool back in 2011 had this to say:
"Mourinho has always been good to me, the decision to leave was a personal one because I needed more, I needed to feel important. Mourinho and I have a good relationship and still today we continue to talk to each other. There wasn't a real option to return (to Atlético) - they speculated with it and I didn't like that. I've said it many times, I won't go to Atlético to retire. I will go if I have motiviation to compete because the Atlético of today is very different than when I was there; I follow them every weekend. It (the possiblity of returning) is an option that isn't real."
And, Torres also confirmed that his Spain career for the international side is not over yet, even though he faces stiff competition to get into the team: "I want to think my cylce in the national team hasn't ended."