Liverpool Striker Fernando Torres: I Feel Like A Scouser

Spaniard even gets positive reaction from Everton fans…

EPL: Fernando Torres, Liverpool - Blackburn Rovers (PA)
Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has revealed just how much at home he feels on Merseyside in a city where people have shown him a warm welcome since he joined from Atletico Madrid two years ago.

"I really feel at home here. From the first day I came right up until today I have felt that Anfield is my home. I feel like I am from Liverpool," he told the club's official website.

"[When I first arrived] I visited John Lennon's house and The Beatles museum and everywhere else like the cathedrals. In the first month I went around visiting all the important things in Liverpool with my friends. But the most important thing here is Anfield, and I can enjoy that every two weeks.

"For me, Anfield is the best place in England but when I am with my family we normally go to the city centre. We like to have a walk along the Albert Dock, watching the docks and chatting to people.

"It's very nice to have the people recognise me and they always seem to have good words for me. They ask me things about Liverpool and about myself."

And it is not just Reds fans who treat the striker with respect when they see him in the city.

"To be honest, I have to say thank-you to the Evertonian people as well because they also come and ask me things and talk to me in a really good way," he added.

"When I was in Madrid, the Real Madrid fans didn't like me. But here the Everton fans are really friendly with me. I was surprised at first.

"The people here are very different. In Madrid the people don't have as much respect for players. You can't do the things normal people do. But here people are very respectful of players away from the pitch.

"I can go to the supermarket, I can go for a drink anywhere. The quality of life here for me is much better because I can do everything I want. I am a normal person here. I can go for a walk along the beach or up to Formby. Every place I go I can act normally."

The language is also proving less of a barrier for Torres as he begins to get the hang of the Scouse dialect.

"At the beginning it was difficult, but funny at the same time," he explained.

"I made some mistakes. I couldn't understand anything in restaurants and I couldn't read the bank letters or electricity and water bills. I didn't know if I'd paid or not, then I got more letters asking for money. The people at the club helped us, though.

"I am picking up words because a lot of people at the club are Scousers. It was difficult in the beginning but, more or less, I can understand them now."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com UK

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