Go clubbing? I'd rather play Monopoly, says Chelsea's £50m star Fernando Torres

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Tom Harper12 April 2012

He is the £50 million man,

But, unlike many of his new teammates, Londoners won't see Chelsea striker Fernando Torres celebrating in Mayfair nightclubs or downing shots in bars in King's Road.

The 26-year-old Spaniard prides himself on being a devoted husband to "childhood sweetheart" Olalla and a father of two - and a huge fan of board games.

The star has revealed he likes nothing better than a game of Monopoly, country walks and eating Flake 99 ice creams with raspberry sauce.

"I am at my most comfortable and relaxed (at home)," he wrote.

"One of my favourite moments is the evening stroll with my wife and our two English bulldogs. I also like keeping up with the world by watching television. My favourite shows are The Dog Whisperer and Super Nanny."

Torres, who moved from Liverpool to Chelsea yesterday in a mammoth £50 million deal - a record fee for a transfer between two English clubs - also joked that the only "battles" he gets involved in are when he plays his favourite game of Monopoly with friends and family.

The idyllic picture of family life is a far cry from other Chelsea footballers who famously blow thousands in casinos and clubs from Leicester Square to Las Vegas. Eschewing the typical footballer wedding format complete with £1 million budget and popstar guest-list, the Spaniard wed Olalla in a low-key ceremony conducted by a local councillor in a town hall near Madrid in 2009.

She is far from your typical Wag, and has been in Torres's life since the age of 15. The couple are thought to have met on a family holiday in the Spanish resort of Estorde.

She shuns the limelight and looks after Nora, two, and baby son Leo while studying for a degree in the Spanish equivalent of the Open University.

But she will no doubt play a part in deciding where the family will live. In 2006, Chelsea housed their £100,000-a-week midfielder Michael Ballack for weeks in a penthouse by Chelsea Harbour as he searched for a permanent home. It is thought that Torres will eventually join his new teammates in the Cobham area of Surrey, near the Chelsea training ground. Captain John Terry owns several properties in the neighbouring village of Oxshott.

Torres's sensational move to Stamford Bridge followed more than three years as the darling of Anfield. He scored 81 goals in 142 games for Liverpool and spearheaded the Spanish national team to consecutive European and World Cup triumphs in 2008 and 2010.

His popularity was highlighted by his surname being the most popular to adorn replica Premier League shirts sold across the world last season.

But last night, Liverpool fans gathered outside their stadium to set fire to their Torres shirts after he admitted: "I am taking a big step forward in joining a club like Chelsea. It is the kind of team I want to play for."

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