Atletico Madrid captain Gabi says he would like Fernando Torres to stick around at the Vicente Calderon.
Torres' future looks very much up in the air at the moment, with the 31-year-old out of contract next summer when his loan deal from AC Milan expires, and Atletico's FIFA-imposed transfer ban also complicating manners.
Atletico's hierarchy would like to keep the fan favourite at the club, however, it seems coach Diego Simeone is less keen on giving a new contract to a player who has scored just two goals in 22 appearances in all competitions this season, and has recently been sidelined by a niggling ankle problem.
Nevertheless, Torres' fellow former Atletico youth-teamer Gabi told AS he would like to keep having his long-time friend around if the club decided that was for the best.
"That is a question for the club," Gabi said. "We want Torres to help us achieve our objectives, for him to recover fitness as soon as possible and help us. I want people who help me to be a champion, to be the best, and Torres always helps us with that when he is on the pitch."
Top scorer Antoine Griezmann aside, all of Atletico's players have been struggling for goals this season -- the team have only managed 12 in 10 home La Liga games so far, and missed a chance to retake top spot from Barcelona with a 0-0 draw against 10-man Sevilla at the weekend.
Gabi admitted that the club could do with scoring more goals, while recalling that Simeone's side won the title two seasons back after winning a number of games by a narrow margin.
"Until now we have not been [scoring enough]," he said. "It is true that we won by the minimum many times, but the year we won La Liga [in 2014] it was the same. We always look on the positive side of things. We hope not just the forwards score goals. The midfielders must also chip in, so we do not have any regrets at the end of the season."
Atletico's busy January continues on Wednesday with the Copa del Rey quarterfinal second leg against Celta Vigo -- starting at 0-0 from last week's first game -- before a trip to Barcelona in La Liga on Saturday.
"It is very difficult," Gabi said. "In the first leg, Celta played more direct, not so elaborate, and pushed us back. But I believe we are ready for the game. It is more important on Wednesday than against Barcelona."