Diego Simeone Had Chance to Bring Chelsea Misfit Fernando Torres Back to Atletico Madrid

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone was never interested in bringing Chelsea's Fernando Torres back to the club this summer, according to club director Gil Marin.

Torres left Chelsea to join Milan on a two year loan deal during the summer transfer window, a move which has likely brought an end to his frustrating three and a half years at Stamford Bridge.

A product of Atletico's youth academy, Torres was named club captain at Vicente Calderon at the tender age of 19, leading a side that also featured Simeone in midfield in what was his second spell at the club.

29-year-old Torres has often spoken fondly of a possible return to his boyhood club, something that became a possibility this summer after the Spaniard made his decision to leave west London.

Simeone however chose to consider other options.

"It is true that it was raised [Torres returning to Altetico], but we never opened negotiations," Marin told Spanish daily AS. "Simeone did not ask me."

Chelsea and Atletico were in frequent contact throughout the summer and beforehand, suggesting the subject of Torres' return to Spain may have been considered by both parties at some point.

Thibaut Courtois' three years on loan in the Spanish capital cemented a strong relationship between the two clubs before the Blues returned to sign Diego Costa and Filipe Luis for £32m and £16m respectively.

However, following Costa's departure, Simeone chose to instead turn to Mario Mandzukic from Bayern Munich while also enlisting the services of Raul Jimenez.

Torres meanwhile has enjoyed a mixed start to life at the Rossoneri. The striker scored his first goal on his full debut for the club but has failed to find the back of the net in his last three.

Jose Mourinho maintained throughout the summer he wished to retain the services of the Spaniard but allowed the player to leave once he made his wishes clear, replacing him with Loic Remy in August.