Liverpool new boy Georginio Wijnaldum seems like he was always destined to make a move to Anfield, and when he was a teenager he had an encounter with Fernando Torres and managed to secure the Reds legend’s shirt (via LFC.com).
In a recent interview the Dutch international reminisced about the game from way back in 2007, when the 25-year-old was playing for his home side Rotterdam. He spent the entire game on the bench, but at the end of the match took advantage of a fracas to ask Torres for his shirt.
“It was a game in Rotterdam in a tournament – the Port of Rotterdam Tournament,” he said.
“I was sitting on the bench for the whole game and after the game, there were some arguments between the players but I spotted Torres standing there.
“I liked Torres because of the way he played and scored goals – he was a really good player – so I went over to him and asked if we could swap shirts. That’s the thing I remember most about that night.
“I still have the shirt because I was a big fan of his. Because the players were making trouble, I had the chance to swap my jersey with Torres and I was really happy about it.
“The jersey is in Rotterdam in my house. I haven’t had it framed yet – I want to do that but I have more shirts, so I have to look at what I am going to do with them. Maybe I’ll put them all on a wall of frames.”
Torres was unquestionably one of the best strikers in the world during his time at Liverpool, and a number of young players naturally looked up to him. Knowing that players like the Spaniard played at Anfield during their careers is always going to be a huge draw, with promising young stars aspiring to be just like Fernando Torres, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, or any number of other Liverpool legends.
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Big players can have a real impact on you when you’re at a young age trying to make it big, and Torres clearly stood out to Wijnaldum. They are obviously very different types of player, but if Wijnaldum can even come close to making the impression that Torres did during his time at Anfield, then the fans will absolutely love him.