Diego Simeone has acknowledged that Fernando Torres' hopes of an Atletico Madrid contract renewal "depend on results" after scoring twice in Saturday's 2-0 defeat of Leganes.
Torres made only his fifth LaLiga start of the season for the visit of Atletico's relegation-threatened neighbours, entering Simeone's XI ahead of Kevin Gameiro.
And the striker repaid that faith with a solid display, scoring the opening goal with a clever finish on the rebound after Iago Herrerin had kept out Antoine Griezmann's penalty – which Torres won.
He then wrapped things up just after the break with another good goal created by Angel Correa's throughball and Simeone was full of praise afterwards, though he gave no assurances that the 32-year-old's contract will be extended beyond its current expiry date at the end of June.
"That always depends on the club, the coach, and all of that depends on the results," Simeone told reporters.
"He's had four fantastic days and that could be well seen, especially because of the strength with which he has been fighting.
"Despite not playing he has trained well and that has always been his greatest virtue. Hopefully he can continue like this."
One player whose performance was not up to scratch was Saul Niguez, with the midfielder withdrawn at half-time and Simeone publicly singled him out.
"I thought he was not having a good game," Simeone said. "That 1-0 wasn't enough and I thought that with Correa between lines we could do more damage. It [the change] came off perfectly, which I welcome."
