Alvaro Morata was rumoured to be destined for Manchester United this summer and a reunion with Jose Mourinho, but he made it clear he would only leave Real Madrid for Chelsea.
At the start of the summer Chelsea were not on Morata’s radar, but when the opportunity to work with Anotonio Conte arose he was confident that a move to Stamford Bridge was right for him.
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Morata’s partnership with Conte at Juventus was short lived when he signed for the Italian side in 2014.
Conte departed just two months after his arrival to manage the Italian national side, but Morata remained at the Allianz stadium and was instrumental in the club’s success in Serie A and Coppa Italia.
The forward couldn’t resist working with the man he felt he was in debt to.
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Nor could he resist the pull of playing with the Premier League champions, where he was likely to get more game time than at Real Madrid.
Although happy at Madrid and wanting to stay under Zinedine Zidane, Morato told the Daily Mail that he couldn’t stay to be a substitute.
He said: “You reach a point that you need to play, to grow up, to escape a comfort zone. I am ambitious and hungry to succeed.”
The Spanish international has proved his worth and has scored three time from three appearances so far this season, a record that seeks to justify the £58million fee that Chelsea paid to secure the striker.
Morata left Real Madrid on a high, having become La Liga champions and clinching the Champions League, but wanted more game time to secure his place in Spain’s World cup team.
He said: “For Spain, the more I play, the more goals I score, the more chance I have of making the World Cup and starting games.”
Although he has won over Chelsea fans, missing a penalty in the Community Shield against Chelsea’s London rivals was not the start he had hoped.
Morata knew he would have to work harder to silence the critics.
Morata’s name was used in a derogatory chant at a recent fixture.
The subject of the song felt compelled to reach out to his twitter followers, asking them to respect everyone.
When citing a list of other top managers that he has played under, Morata can list some impressive names, he said: “I’ve played under Zinedine Zidane, Carlo Ancelotti, Jose Mourinho, Max Allegri.
“Now I am with Antonio Conte. I am only missing Guardiola or a Klopp!”
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