Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has reportedly decided to switch the Santiago Bernabeu for Stamford Bridge next season and has his heart set on a move to Chelsea.
If reports from Spain are to believed, the 24-year-old is set for a move away from the Santiago Bernanbeu in the coming transfer window. According to Don Balon, Morata had already begun considering the ‘many’ offers he has and was trying to find a club that would best suit his interests.
The report states that he is well aware that he has no place at Real Madrid and is now convinced that a move to Stamford Bridge is the best step to take at this stage of his career. Morata is reported to be extremely serious about the move and he sees no other alternative to fixing his current situation.
According to a report from Dairo Gol, an offer has been made for the former Juventus striker in the region of €40 million, but Florentino Perez is holding out for at least €50 million. Morata has reportedly made his stance clear – give him more minutes at the club or ship him off to England.
Chelsea’s interest in the Spaniard is no secret, having had two eye-watering bids rejected for the striker in the summer – the first one was for €60 million and the second bid was for €75 million. Initially, it was believed that Real would immediately sell Morata for a profit after activating his €30 million buyout clause.
However, it wasn’t the case and Los Blancos chose to keep him at the club. The European champions likely hoped that he would provide more competition to the then undisputed Karim Benzema, before one day taking over from the Frenchman as the club’s first choice striker.
Needless to say, things haven’t quite gone according to plan for the Spaniard and he has found himself behind Karim Benzema in the pecking order. In 30 appearances this season, he has scored 12 goals and registered 4 assists.
In only a game more, Karim Benzema has notched up 13 goals and 6 assists. Morata has started only 12 of his 30 appearances this campaign, while Benzema has started 24 of his 31 games. However, Morata averages a goal or an assist every 79 minutes, in comparison to Benzema’s 109 minutes.
While Benzema is the better striker on his day, statistics reveal that Alvaro Morata has been the more effective striker. Needless to say, this poses a huge headache for Zinedine Zidane, who can’t afford to start both strikers due to the limitations of his 4-3-3 formation.
Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has long been a keen admirer of Morata from his days as Juventus manager. It was the Italian who wanted to work with him, which led to his arrival at Juventus in the summer of 2014 for a fee reported to be around 20 million.
However, Conte could not work with Morata as he had left the club after three seasons to take the reigns at the Italian national team. However, with the Spaniard seeming destined to move away from the Spanish capital at the end of the current campaign, Conte may finally get a chance to work with the two-time Serie A Champion from next season.
