MADRID, July 24, (Agencies): Chelsea striker Fernando Torres is targeting the English Premier League title after a year of ups and downs which culminated in triumphs for the Spaniard in the Champions League, FA Cup and at Euro 2012.
“I would love to win a Premier League,” Torres, who has just joined up with his club team-mates for a pre-season training camp in the United States, said on his personal website (www.fernando9torres.com) on Tuesday.
“Hopefully it will happen this year, but for sure we will be challenging for it,” added the 28-year-old, who put a period of poor form behind him to end the season on a spectacular high, including winning the Euro 2012 Golden Boot award.

Chelsea’s first challenge next term is the season-opening Community Shield on Aug 12, which pits the FA Cup winners against the Premier League champions, Manchester City.
“In my opinion, the equality between the big English teams is at a peak,” Torres said.
“You just have to look at the way City sealed the title, at the last gasp, and how the team that won the Champions League (Chelsea) finished sixth,” he added.
“That’s how the (Community Shield) will be, a battle from start to finish between two teams who are obliged to fight for everything this season in England and in Europe.”

Torres left 2012 Europa League champions Atletico Madrid to join Liverpool in 2007, before signing for Chelsea in 2011, and said the European Super Cup against his boyhood club at the end of next month would possibly be the most memorable match of his career.
“It’s going to be full of conflicting emotions and that’s why I am chomping at the bit to play it,” he said.
“Meeting a team that you carry in your heart has to be different: a European final with a title at stake,” he added. “That’s not bad, is it?”
Andre Villas-Boas has launched a fresh attack on Luka Modric after branding the Tottenham midfielder as unprofessional following his summer revolt.
Modric, a target for Real Madrid, is desperate to force through a summer move and has angered Spurs by going on strike.
The Croatian has been hit with an £80,000 ($124,000) fine for refusing to train and missing the club’s pre-season tour of America, where they play a friendly against LA Galaxy on Tuesday and the New York Red Bulls on July 31.

And with Spurs refusing to move on their £40 million ($62 million) asking price, new Tottenham boss Villas-Boas has condemned Modric’s stance.
“We understand this type of player revolt is nothing new,” said the Portuguese coach. “But the club has to protect themselves. We have to hold onto our values and rights.
“Last year he behaved professionally. Unfortunately this is the first time Luka has taken these actions.
“The situation as it stands is he is under club discipline for not being present.
“We don’t know what advice he is receiving. As far as I know he is back in London. “There is a sense of respect for what he has done, but the chairman feels that the fact he is not present is not common professional behaviour.
“Hopefully this situation will be solved in two ways — that the clubs interested meet the demands of Tottenham regarding his value or the player continues to club duty.
“Hopefully this won’t drag on too long as it doesn’t help Luka or us.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham have been dealt a further blow after it emerged Scott Parker is set to miss the start of the new season.
Parker is poised to undergo an Achilles injury that will him out for six weeks.
He will miss England’s friendly with Italy next month and is a major doubt for opening two World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine in Septmeber.
“We think there might be a small tear on his Achilles,” said Villas-Boas.
“We are evaluating the situation at the moment — with regards to an operation, which would take four to six weeks to heal.
“It is a situation that also depends on our ability to have the player in surgery as quickly as possible. That’s what we are trying to work on.
“It’s a difficult one because players react differently to different types of surgeon.
“Scotty prefers to be seen by a Professor Harrison, so we have to wait to see whether we can all get it together as quickly as possible.
“If that’s the case hopefully we will be able to get the Achilles open and see the extent of the injury.”