If Fernando Torres was a car at this point, what would he be? A burning Ford Pinto?
There was a time when AC Milan seemed to have found the elixir of youth and given its players new leases on their careers, sometimes endlessly so. Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi, and Mauro Tassotti all played into their 40s. Clarence Seedorf only left Milan when he was 38 years. Pippo Inzhagi, their present coach was also their goal poacher extraordinaire till he turned 39. Now, that has been reversed as the average age is trending down significantly.
At 30, Fernando Torres on a two year loan is definitely not going to wend his way back to Chelsea. He’s now part of a club that is struggling through uncertain finances and Silvio Berlusconi’s desire to sell a substantial stake in the club. The owner has also put his faith in a younger group of players while bodyshopping a lot more around the league recouping his investments. Milan’s squad now is built up through a combination of low to mid priced players, free transfers, loaners, and youth system inductees. In this new look Milan, Stephan Al Shaarawy is one of the veterans at 21 years of age and its most expensive player.
Torres comes at the right time. Milan slipped to eighth last season on anemic goalscoring in a league where in general goalscoring was a herculean task. As the direct replacement for Balotelli, he has to take on the responsibility of delivering on arrival. The pace is slower and the arrival of highly rated Giacomo Bonaventura as well the presence of Riccardo Montolivo means Torres should get plenty of lubrication as an outlet as well down the flanks from newly acquired Jeremy Menez and Al Sharaawy. If Milan can score 70 goals in a low scoring league, they head back to the Champions League. They made a positive start in their first match beating Lazio, 3-1.
Torres’s been compared to a quality car that needs to be treated well in order to run correctly. And we all know Italian’s know a thing or two about quality cars. Torres has devolved from a smoothly purring, lethal Lamborghini Gallardo to a self combusting, boxy Ford Pinto and now if he can pull off a Fiat 500 it’ll be a fantastic upgrade. Oops, they’re made by the Agnellis, Inter’s owners and Milan’s fiercest rivals. Maybe a
Next up, Donadoni’s Parma, proven thorns in the side of the Rossoneri with the Crociati pulling out the double last season. One would imagine Torres coming off the bench if scoring becomes a problem.