Fernando Torres frustrated at being left on the Chelsea bench

Anything could happen at Chelsea this summer. Will Roberto Di Matteo keep his job? If not, then who will replace him? Will Didier Drogba get the two year contract extension he desires? If not, who will Chelsea buy to fill the gap? Now it looks like there may be an even bigger gap, as Fernando Torres has spoken of his feelings on being largely ignored in Chelsea’s end of season heroics.

“This is not the role for which I came and I’m not happy…I felt in one of my best moments, with great desire and ambition, and I had to start on the bench.” It was a surprise to many as Torres had finally started to show Chelsea fans that he could still be the player that Abramovich spent £50 million on. His equalising goal in the Nou Camp looked like being a turning point in his Stamford Bridge career, but he was dropped for both finals.

The final straw for the Spanish striker may have come at the end of full time in Munich. According to the Daily Mail, Torres wanted to take a penalty in the shoot out, “but they didn’t let me. I felt things I had never felt. I felt they had treated me in a way I was not expecting.” TV footage shows Torres offering to take a spot kick but he was not among the chosen takers. Of course, Chelsea won and so it is impossible to criticise Di Matteo, but it is easy to understand Torres’ point of view.

Hopefully he will have a good tournament with Spain and arrive back at Chelsea with a new spring in his step. He certainly needs to improve on his statistics of £50 million, 64 games and 12 goals.