Chelsea: Alvaro Morata taking the disappointing easy way out, but that’s OK

For the third straight summer, Alvaro Morata is in Chelsea’s transfer rumour mill. But this time, the Blues are shopping him out and preparing to call it quits on the one-year experiment.

The Italian Serie A has been quite an unhappy hunting ground for Chelsea in recent times, in terms of transfer activities. They’ve encountered more rejections there than a socially-awkward teenager with a recent acne outbreak does at the popular table in the cafeteria. Before Kalidou Koulibaly, there was Edinson Cavani and Javier Pastore. And before Napoli, there was Palermo and Juventus. Only Roma have been relatively easier to deal with, but they had their own problems that forced their hand. Basically, they sold Chelsea the Tupperware while hiding their expensive china.

Another phenomenon Chelsea have been at the receiving end of is the loan-to-buy deal that thrives in Italy. It started with Hernan Crespo and continued with Andriy Shevchenko, Juan Cuadrado, Mohamed Salah and Fernando Torres.

The next Chelsea player rumoured to follow this well-trodden path from England to Italy is Alvaro Morata. And for some reason, this sounds more believable every time it comes up. However, it does appear the club learned lesson and will only sanction an outright sale, commonly known as a “buy to buy” or “not loan.”

Despite a season full of ups and downs, the common consensus is Morata did well in his maiden year in the Premier League. During his time at Chelsea he suffered injuries, a personal tragedy, omission from the World Cup squad and general apathy as well as derision from fans who did not quite get on board with him because he wasn’t Diego Costa.

I have previously made it clear how stupid Chelsea would be if they sold Morata this summer. And I still stand by it. But if the player does not want to play for Chelsea any more, there’s nothing you can do about it in this day and age. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink, although I have a hunch Diego Costa tried it once and ended up nearly drowning the poor animal.

Morata wanting to call it quits leads to a justifiable sense of anger and disappointment. Anger, because Morata used Chelsea as a gap year before going back to do what he loves. Anger, Chelsea played the fools who paid an eye-watering sum of money to get him off the Madrid bench and make him their undisputed number-one striker. And after all that, he wants to leave.

And that’s the disappointment. On paper, Morata and Chelsea could be so good together. For a brief period, they were. But there was always a lingering feeling Morata did not adjust to his new surroundings and pined for Italy. On a personal level, I do understand his desire to raise a family in the country of his wife’s birth and the place where he made a mark in his career. And if he really does want to go back, we should not begrudge him a move.

But that does not stop me from tarring him with the brush labelled “weak mentality.” If Morata goes, he will simply join the list of players who chose the easy way out instead of fighting back.

Selling Morata so soon used to be the pinnacle of dumb ideas. But now there is something worse: selling Morata and not replacing him adequately. Morata carries a rumoured asking price of €60-70 million. That plus the regular transfer budget should cover any concerns about money.

Playing in the Europa League, however, could be a concern for Chelsea’s targets. Without Morata, they would need a new first-choice striker for the second consecutive summer. Could it be Michy Batshuayi? Could it be Robert Lewandowski? Let it not be Olivier Giroud, dear lord!

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But with Arrivederci, Alvaro soon to become a reality, Chelsea better have a clear idea of what they are going to do next.