He may be known as The Kid, or El Nino, but within months of arriving at Liverpool the Anfield faithful were talking of Fernando Torres in the same breath as Dalglish, Fowler, Owen and Rush. Armed with pace, touch, movement and devastating finishing, Torres made the transition from the Spanish La Liga to the rough and tumble of the Premiership with hardly a break in his elegant stride. With a Liverpool record price tag of £20 million on his head the ice cool Torres introduced himself to the Kop with a goal against Chelsea on his Anfield debut.
Torres had been the target for a host of top sides, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United joining in the chase. Anyone who had followed Torres' career with Atletico Madrid and Spain up until that point would not have been surprised. At just 17 the precociously talented Torres was the youngest player to play for Atletico and the club's youngest captain two years later. By the time he left the Madrid club he had notched up 82 goals in 214 appearances.
Torres made his full international debut for Spain as a 19-year-old in September 2003 against Portugal and was a member of the Euro 2004 squad and the 2006 World Cup side in Germany.
In February 2008 Torres scored three times against Middlesbrough, repeating the feat 11 days later against West Ham to become the first Liverpool player to score hat-tricks in consecutive matches since 1946. The Kop knows a gem of a player when they see one, and they quickly took him to their hearts.
His exploits at Euro 2008 for Spain confirmed him as a truly world-class player, however. After a superb tournament alongside strike partner David Villa, his clinical strike in the final against Germany capped another superb display for the Spaniards and brought them their first major trophy for 24 years. Torres, already a favourite in Madrid and Liverpool, was now the darling of the whole of Spain.