Torres must decide his future, Atletico say

Atletico Madrid said yesterday it is up to Spain striker Fernando Torres to decide where he wants to play next season as media reports continue to link him with a move to Liverpool.

"I would love him to stay with us but it is up to Fernando to decide his future. We have spoken to him and told him we want him to stay," Atletico's majority shareholder Miguel Angel Gil said.

"It's normal that the offers and the people around him make him think and give him doubts. His idea is to continue, but in football things move quickly and I can't predict a change in opinion."

The 23-year-old club captain, and top scorer over the last five seasons, has a contract with Atletico until 2009, but has become one of the hottest transfer targets in Europe this summer.

Rumours have continued unabated since Atletico failed to win a direct route into European competition for this coming season. They finished seventh in the season just ended and will compete in the Intertoto Cup next month with the aim of reaching the UEFA Cup.

The Madrid club struggled to score goals last season and Gil admitted Villarreal's Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan was a prime target.