Fernando Torres wants to stay at Atletico Madrid for 'many more years'

Published on: 18 December 2017

Diego Simeone says he won't stop Antoine Griezmann leaving Atletico Madrid should an opportunity at another club arise.

Atletico Madrid striker Fernando Torres says his future remains with the club despite Diego Costa's imminent availability, while downplaying talk that the club are now Barcelona's most likely rivals in the La Liga title race.

Torres, 33, scored a late winner off the bench as Atletico beat Alaves 1-0 on Saturday -- a result which pushed Diego Simeone's team up to second in the table.

The former Spain international is out of contract next summer and there has been some speculation that he could leave in January as Atletico need to free up space on the wage bill when Costa is finally available for selection as a FIFA transfer ban ends.

"Nobody has ever gifted me anything," Torres told reporters. "My only path has always been to work hard. My idea is to stay here many more years."

Atletico have dropped out of the Champions League but they remain undefeated all season in La Liga, and four straight wins have seen them emerge as the closest challengers to table-topping Barca.

Asked if they were now back in the title race, Torres said: "The table will tell that. We will see what happens in the next four or five months. To think any further than Espanyol [away on Friday] is no good for us. But we know we can win any game."

Dermot Corrigan is a Madrid-based football writer who covers La Liga and the Spain national team for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @dermotmcorrigan

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Source: espn.co.uk

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