Liverpool, Atlético: the great dilemma of coach Fernando Torres

Retired since 2019, Fernando Torres did not take long before beginning his career change. Like many former players, he decided to obtain his coaching qualifications. The former Liverpool and Atlético de Madrid legend obviously did not take long to find a project since he joined the Colchoneros in an assistant role with the reserves. Like Xabi Alonso with Real Sociedad in his early days, the former La Roja scorer did not want to skip ahead and then decided to go back down with Atlético Juvenil in a role, this time, as a head coach to gain experience.

And it's a choice that has paid off since his arrival three seasons ago now, Fernando Torres is progressing little by little. This season, his team is leader of the championship with 7 points ahead of rival Real Madrid. The last confrontation between the two teams had also turned in favor of Fernando Torres on the bench against his ex-teammate Alvaro Arbeloa. Under the eyes of Mikel Arteta, Gabi Heinze and Santiago Solari, the Colchoneros brought down the rival. Enough to give credit to Fernando Torres who also recently made headlines with a stint at Liverpool. A few days ago, he was back with the Reds for an internship under the orders of Jürgen Klopp. For several days, the 40-year-old Spanish tactician was able to live inside the Liverpool group and follow the advice of the German coach. He also assisted the club's U21 coaches and other youth categories.

A position in reserve or in A?

A not insignificant internship according to the information from Relevo. Indeed, it was Fernando Torres himself who asked Liverpool for the opportunity to learn alongside the German coach. And while he will finish his third season with Atlético Juvenil, Torres should leave his post this summer, believing that he has reached the end of his adventure. But if some supporters would obviously dream of seeing him on the Liverpool bench to succeed Klopp, the former club legend, the step seems to arrive too early in his young coaching career. According to the Spanish media, his destiny is mainly linked to Atlético de Madrid. The Spanish management wants to continue with him and the logical next step would therefore be to now take over the club's reserve team. But under the orders of Luis García Tevenet, the team has been performing well for three years and there is therefore no reason to change coach.

So Atlético de Madrid thought of another idea. Internally, Fernando Torres is considered the natural successor to Diego Simeone. Management believes that he ticks all the boxes and seems more relevant than Tevenet to take over the first team when the Argentinian coach leaves. However, the club's first idea was to place Tevenet as Simeone's assistant. Enough to allow Fernando Torres to recover the reserve team and continue his progress. But that didn't happen. The club still believes that this is the best solution since it would also allow Torres to follow the generation he had under his command and who now plays with the reserves. But Atlético de Madrid also fears that other clubs will take a concrete interest in Fernando Torres and offer him a serious project on the bench of a first team… If he is no longer a player, the future of El Niño is always a headache.