Fernando Torres has been in good form for Atletico Madrid over the past few weeks—a protagonist in their games and hugely involved in both positive and negative senses in the UEFA Champions League tie against Barcelona a week ago.

Before the weekend game against Espanyol, manager Diego Simeone had suggested Torres' future could be resolved in the next few days, according to Marca's Isaac Suarez and Alexandra Jonson—and the No. 9 put in a top-drawer performance, scoring one and setting up another, to add fuel to the possibility he would remain at the Vicente Calderon.

His loan spell ends in the summer, and if Atleti don't want him back, it's also unlikely he'd continue at AC Milan, but has the former Liverpool man done enough to warrant an extension at Los Rojiblancos?

Team aspect

First and foremost, the Atletico Madrid striker in any given match has to make use of space off the ball: close down the opposition defence to prevent passing avenues forward and then make diagonal runs to provide out-ball opportunities when the team has possession. David Cartlidge of beIN Sports summed up how Torres provides that to the team:

(Big, big deal) = Jackson was bombed out because he couldn’t. Number one requirement of an Atleti striker. Before goals.

— David Cartlidge (@davidjaca) April 9, 2016

Torres has continually worked that way throughout the season, but he's now also adding goals to a team that has habitually struggled for consistency in finding the back of the net this term.

Atletico pair two strikers from the start in most games, and while it's an offensive measure to ensure bodies in the box and a target to hit, it's also very much Simeone's first line of defence.

An amount of sacrifice has to come as standard to give the back line and midfield time to organise themselves against counter-attacks, give a rest period when under concerted pressure and spring the odd counter-attack from high upfield themselves when the ball is won with the opposition side expecting to move forward.

Antoine Griezmann is of course a nearly perfect embodiment of it all, and Yannick Carrasco and Angel Correa have both shown flashes of ticking all the boxes from a central attacking role, but Torres has done so more often, has goals and, of course, has more experience overall.

Late individual run

Players often hit the heights when there's something tangible at stake: a new contract, a loan move made permanent, a cup final place. It could be levelled at Torres that this is why he has found form of late, but it would be largely ridiculous.

Torres has always, all season long, given plenty for the Atletico cause, being overly selfless at times and simply working hard in his career-long way at others. The big difference between his current form and early in the season is simply now he is in a groove inside the penalty box, finding the target regularly and being decisive and effective in front of goal.

Earlier in the campaign he still made the runs, he still linked play and he still tried to take on players, but missed a huge succession of chances to score when he was stuck on 99 goals for the club.

Since finally netting his 100th against Eibar, Torres has five goals in eight Liga appearances—459 minutes on the pitch, so one every 92 minutes—plus one in the Champions League against Barcelona, where he was of course also sent off.

Add in he has been creating chances, stretching play and closing down enormously and this is comfortably his best spell in his 18-month loan.

Team Progression

As a team who continually reinvent themselves over summer transfer windows, Atletico Madrid have grown used to selling off a big name or experienced starter—but with Jackson Martinez already gone, that can't really happen with the front line this season.

All the support acts for Griezmann—Saul, Correa, Carrasco, Thomas, Luciano Vietto, Oliver—are 22 or under, while midfield star Koke is 24. It's unlikely Simeone would want to head into next season without a single older head in place to spearhead the attack from time to time, even if they would not always be a guaranteed starter.

Torres has shown his reliability on the big stage, has had a better run of form than any of his positional rivals have managed throughout the campaign and is clearly more settled and confident now than at any previous point this season.

Extending his stay at the Calderon, even if by another single year, should only prolong his usefulness to the team and allow another new face—for Atleti will surely add another striker to the pool of talent this summer—to gradually settle in and have to step up with their own performances in the face of established competition from a club legend.

Follow @karlmatchett