Torres has renewed hope at Chelsea

Fernando Torres is ready to fulfil his dreams with Chelsea after admitting he “lost hope” earlier in his time at Stamford Bridge.

The departure of Didier Drogba gives the £50 million British record transfer the ideal opportunity to secure his position as first-choice striker after a difficult 16 months since leaving Liverpool.

Torres has still to rediscover the form he showed at Anfield and has scored just 12 goals in his Chelsea career, but he remains confident his best is to come and dismissed claims he was unsettled.

“At Chelsea I am very happy and I never said the opposite,” he said.

“I still have a lot to do in this club. It has been a difficult year, I didn’t play much and my mind was like a roller-coaster.

“I believe that I deserved to play more. I felt very bad and I would not like to feel that way again but I have never surrendered and I never will.

“When Chelsea signed me they did it with great expectations, and the confidence of the owner and the fans has been unconditional, but my role in the team has not followed that line.

“I look at myself and think I have not known how to be essential for the coaches I’ve had and this is another goal to accomplish which I will, at all costs.”

The Spain international went 24 matches without scoring this season before finally ending his five-month goal drought with two goals in Chelsea’s FA Cup quarter-final win over Leicester.

For a player who has excelled at hitting the net at both Liverpool and before then at Atletico Madrid, it became almost a psychological problem.

“It was a mental block, I felt really bad,” he told his website, fernando9torres.com

“I felt very well on the field this season because I have become a more complete player but the ball did not fall for me and I felt I was never in the correct position.

“Luckily it is part of the past. Now all I have in mind is to fulfil dreams.”