Fernando José Torres Sanz

Fernando José Torres Sanz (born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football player currently playing for Liverpool. In the five seasons preceding his move to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid, Torres scored 75 goals in 176 La Liga appearances, with only Ronaldo, Samuel Eto'o and David Villa bettering that tally during the same period. Prior to that, Torres played two seasons in the Spanish second division.

On August 11, "El Niño" made his competitive debut for Liverpool against Aston Villa in a 2-1 win. He scored his first English Premier League goal on his Anfield debut on August 19, in the 16th minute in a controversial 1-1 draw against Chelsea.

On February 23, Torres scored his first league hat-trick, and second for the club, against Middlesbrough at Anfield in Liverpool's 3-2 win. On March 5, just eleven days later, he repeated the feat, netting three more against West Ham in a 4-0 Liverpool victory.^[12] In doing so, he became the first player since Jackie Balmer in November 1946, and the fourth player in the club's history, to score hat-tricks in successive home matches.^[13] His performances earned him Barclays Premier League Player of the Month honours for February.

On March 15, Torres became the first Liverpool player since Robbie Fowler to score 20 league goals in a season, when he scored a 47th minute header against Reading F.C. at Anfield.^[14]. Torres continued his success by scoring the single Liverpool F.C. goal against Inter in San Siro.

On March 30, Torres participated in his first Merseyside derby against Everton FC. He scored the only goal and the eventual winner in the 7th minute. This took his Premier League tally to 21 and his overall season tally to 28 goals.

On April 8, Torres added to his UEFA Champions League tally scoring his 5th goal of the competition against Arsenal at Anfield where Liverpool won 4-2 on the night and booked their place in the 2007-08 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea. This goal also took him onto 29 goals for the season in all competitions, eclipsing former Liverpool favourite Michael Owen's personal record for goals in a season.

On April 11, 2008, it was announced that Torres had made a six man shortlist for both the PFA Player of the Year Award, as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year Award.

On April 13, Torres scored his 30th goal of the season in a 3-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers. He became the first Liverpool F.C. player to score in 7 consecutive games in the Premier League at Anfield.