FERNANDO TORRES has thanked fans for their support after revealing the tragic death of his dad Jose.

The Spaniard, 40, confirmed his father's passing in a sombre social media post.

Torres uploaded a picture of himself clapping in black and white.

He included the accompanying message: "I couldn’t end this sad day without thanking everyone from the bottom of my heart on behalf of my family and myself for so many expressions of affection and respect towards the death of my father.

"Dad, I will always keep you present, I love you. D.E.P."

In Spanish, D.E.P. stands for descanse en paz, which translates to rest in peace.

Torres received plenty of well wishes following his social media post, including from former club Atletico Madrid.

The Spanish club wrote: "Fernando, to you and your family, all the love in the world in these very complicated moments from all the red and white fans."

Plenty of Torres' former team-mates for club and country commented on his Instagram post.

The likes of Juan Mata, David de Gea, David Luiz, Sami Hyypia, John Arne Riise, Paulo Ferreira, Jose Reina, Diego Costa and Luis Figo left messages of support.

Torres played in England between 2007 and 2014 for Liverpool and then Chelsea - having joined the former from Atletico.

He went on to play for AC Milan before returning to Atleti - then eventually ended his playing career with Japanese side Sagan Tosu in 2019.

In 2021 he began coaching Atletico's Under-21 side.

He did so for three seasons before stepping down at the end of last season.

The former striker appears to be determined to keep learning when it comes to coaching.

He recently visited former club Liverpool, observing one of Jurgen Klopp's training sessions.

Last month, he also featured for Liverpool Legends in their Anfield clash with Ajax.