Fernando Torres: Opens up on Chelsea struggles

Atletico Madrid forward Fernando Torres says he felt like he was “swimming in wet clothes” during his unsuccessful stint at Chelsea.

Torres joined Chelsea in January 2011 for a then-British transfer record fee of £50m, but he repaid the London side with a paltry return of just 20 goals in 110 Premier League outings.

He was packed off to AC Milan on loan last summer before returning to his boyhood team Atletico Madrid, on an 18-month loan deal, during the winter transfer window.

Torres’ struggles at Stamford Bridge were surprising given his previous prolific exploits at Liverpool, but the 30-year-old has tried to lift the lid on why things went wrong for him in London.

"The doubts were understandable because people did not see the English league, or the short time I was at Milan," he told Spanish newspaper El Pais.

"They read the statistics, and they were not always the same.

"You end up in a situation where things have not gone well for weeks, or for years. That is like swimming in wet clothes.

“I know how I am, and I am good. In the end these doubts disappear, but then others come again."

Watch Atletico Madrid v Bayer Leverkusen in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday, 7:40pm, Sky Sports 5 HD.