Why is it a long shot, As you've said Torres will search for a club with tradition, history and legacy. and few teams in Europe have these, and the guy said before that he won't play for a team in Spain other than Athletico Madrid so that excludes Barca and Real which leaves us with the English teams to compete with and since he will for tradition the Man City is excluded as well, That leaves us with Chelsea and Man Utd. So with the ban that hopefully will stay on Chelsea we're left with Man Utd and just like the Heinze saga when United refused to transfer him to their Red rivals Pool might favor us eventually.