Fernando Torres has stressed that he is happy at Chelsea after holding talks with club officials.
Comments made by the striker following the recent Champions League final against Bayern Munich suggested he was unsettled at Stamford Bridge.
But Torres, tipped for a pivotal role now Didier Drogba has announced his departure, insists he is looking forward to next season.
“My goal was to talk to them at the end of the season,” Torres stated on his personal website.
“I needed to know what plans they had for me. We’ve talked and now I have no doubt what they expect of Fernando Torres. I just want to start next season already.”
He added: “At Chelsea, I am very happy and I never said the opposite. 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 rollercoaster. 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.”
Torres said that he has an “honest and clear” relationship with interim boss Robero Di Matteo, and added: “We talk to each other a lot, but I hope to convince him that I can be the player he expects – someone indispensible, not just anyone.
“I will keep working hard and, as ever, respecting his decisions. He helped me at a critical time and I am very grateful to him. He has proved he knew what he was doing.”
Thursday’s Chelsea quiz: Bye-bye Bosingwa
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This post was last modified on 24/05/2012