Alvaro Morata may be eyeing his rumoured move to Chelsea
By George Perry
The winter transfer window closed three days ago, and the summer rumour mill is in full swing. Chelsea’s once-and-future transfer target Alvario Morata may be lending his voice to the rumours of a move to Stamford Bridge.
Alvaro Morata was one of Chelsea’s most serious transfer targets during the 2016 summer window. At the time, Diego Costa’s general unhappiness with life in England and his poor 2015/16 campaign left him pining for a return to Spain. Chelsea did not make an official move for Morata, pinning their hopes on Costa and – again, at the time – Michy Batshuayi.
Fast forward a few months, and Diego Costa is happier with Chelsea but now dealing with ludicrous offers from China. Antonio Conte may be appreciating how tenuous Costa’s satisfaction is. And Michy Batshuayi is no closer to Chelsea’s starting XI than he was when he was at Marseille.
Under those circumstances, Alvaro Morata’s value – athletically and financially – is rising for Chelsea. According to the Telegraph, Morata is already telling his friends that he will be transferring to Stamford Bridge this summer.
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Morata has only six starts and 14 total appearances this season for Real Madrid. He saw considerably more playing time in each of his two seasons with Juventus than any of his seasons at Real Madrid. His desire for more minutes is driving his interest in a transfer.
If Morata comes to Chelsea on the promise or condition of more playing time, Antonio Conte will either need to switch formations to a 3-5-2 or go through with transferring Costa. Neither option bodes well for Batshuayi or Chelsea’s returning loanee strikers such as Tammy Abraham or Bertrand Traore.
Costa seems intent on squelching the lingering rumours of his impending departure. After scoring against Hull he mocked the rumours with his celebration. Yesterday he took to Instagram to demonstrate his increased comfort with the English language, saying “They talk too much s***!”
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The Telegraph speculates that Morata would cost Chelsea around £50 million. Chelsea have turned strong profits on recent business, with Oscar’s sale to Shanghai SIPG leading the way. Chelsea can afford Morata as well as one other top-line transfer target using the proceeds of recent sales.