Striving to compete for trophies, Torres left Liverpool in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a Premier League record transfer fee of £50 million, which made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.

[13][14] In July 2003, soon after his takeover of the club, Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich had a £28 million bid for Torres rejected by Atlético's board of directors.

[27] He held a press conference in Madrid on 4 July to bid farewell to the Atlético fans, before completing his move to Liverpool on a six-year contract.

[25] In March 2008, manager Rafael Benítez stated in an interview with The Times that Torres was acquired for around £20 million, although this figure takes into account García's move to Atlético.

[42] On 4 May 2008, Torres scored a 57th-minute winner against Manchester City, which equalled the consecutive Anfield league goal record of eight games set by Roger Hunt.

[48] Torres made a scoring start to the 2008–09 Premier League season with a 25-yard shot into the bottom right-hand corner away at Sunderland, which was the only goal in a 1–0 win on 16 August 2008.

[50] Torres made his return in a 2–1 victory against Marseille in the Champions League and went on to score two goals in the Merseyside derby against Everton on 27 September 2008 to give Liverpool a 2–0 win.

[55] On 22 October 2008, Liverpool played Torres's former club Atlético in the Champions League at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, but his injury meant he missed out on the game.

[67] Torres faced his old rivals Real Madrid on 10 March 2009 in the Champions League last 16 and due to an ankle injury, he had a painkilling injection before the game to enable him to play.

[79] On 25 October 2009, he scored the first goal in a 2–0 victory for Liverpool over Manchester United,[80] after which Rafael Benítez praised Torres's performance, saying, "We were waiting for that final pass.

[96] Torres completed his move to Chelsea on a five-and-a-half-year contract on 31 January 2011 for an undisclosed fee reported to be £50 million, which set a new record for a British transfer and made him the sixth most expensive footballer in history.

[100] Torres got the 2011–12 season underway in Chelsea's 0–0 draw away against Stoke City on 14 August 2011, in which his "link-up play was sharp, plus he was willing to make intelligent runs into space to receive the ball".

[103] Ten minutes after his goal, however, a two-footed challenge on Mark Gower resulted in his first red card in English football and a three-match domestic suspension.

[110] Torres came on in the second half of the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final on 19 May 2012, directly after Bayern Munich's opening goal, and following a 1–1 draw after extra time Chelsea won the penalty shoot-out 4–3.

[108] Torres started the 2012–13 season in the 2012 FA Community Shield against Manchester City at Villa Park, where he scored the opening goal, as Chelsea lost 3–2.

[115][116] Torres was sent off for receiving two yellow cards against Manchester United on 28 October 2012, the second for diving, leaving Chelsea with nine men after teammate Branislav Ivanović was also sent off; the team went on to lose 3–2.

[122] He then scored in Chelsea's 2012 FIFA Club World Cup semi-final 3–1 win against Monterrey of the Mexican Liga MX on 13 December 2012, before playing in the 1–0 defeat to Brazilian Série A side Corinthians in the final three days later.

[115][124] Torres was selected to start by Chelsea's new manager José Mourinho against Hull City on the opening day of the 2013–14 season, where he won a fifth-minute penalty kick.

[127] Torres made his 100th start for Chelsea against Schalke 04 in a Champions League match on 22 October 2013 and marked the occasion by scoring two goals in a 3–0 win.

[131] He debuted on 20 September, replacing Andrea Poli for the last 14 minutes of a 1–0 home defeat against Juventus[132] and scored his first Milan goal with a looping header in their 2–2 draw with Empoli two days later.

[133] On 27 December 2014, it was announced that Torres's move to Milan would be made permanent on 5 January 2015,[134] but two days later, he agreed to rejoin La Liga club Atlético Madrid on loan until the end of the 2015–16 season.

[140] Torres scored the winning kick in Atlético's 3–2 penalty shoot-out defeat of Bayer Leverkusen in the second leg of the teams' Champions League round of 16 tie on 17 March 2015.

[144] He scored the opening goal of Atlético's UEFA Champions League quarter-final with Barcelona at the Camp Nou on 5 April, before being sent off ten minutes later in an eventual 2–1 loss.

[155] He made his farewell in a J1 League match against Vissel Kobe on 23 August 2019, when he faced former Spain teammates Andrés Iniesta and David Villa.

[173] Torres made his 60th appearance for Spain in a 2010 World Cup qualification victory over Turkey on 28 March 2009, becoming the youngest player to reach this milestone.

[179] Having undergone knee surgery on 18 April 2010, and missing the end of the Premier League season, Torres's rehabilitation and fitness was closely monitored by Spain manager Vicente del Bosque.

[186] In the tournament final, Torres came on as a substitute against Italy, scoring one goal and assisting another, as Spain won a second consecutive European Championship with a 4–0 victory.

[190] Torres also became the first player to score two hat-tricks in the Confederations Cup,[191] and with five goals and one assist won the tournament's Golden Shoe, ahead of Fred having played fewer minutes.

Torres is lightning quick, a deadly finisher and a player of such high class with the ball at his feet that he routinely makes the spectacular look ordinary.

[217] Torres featured in a video for "Ya nada volverá a ser como antes" by Spanish pop rock group El Canto del Loco, and the singer, Dani Martín, is friends with him.