LEGANES, SPAIN - APRIL 05: Alvaro Morata of Real Madrid CF celebrates scoring their third goal during the La Liga match between CD Leganes and Real Madrid CF at Estadio Municipal de Butarque on April 5, 2017 in Leganes, Spain. (Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images)
Real Madrid star insists Chelsea aren’t calling
Real Madrid may keep Alvaro Morata
Chelsea fans counting on a summer swoop for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata may need to make other plans. The prolific La Liga hitman insists he hasn’t heard anything about the Blues making a move for his services.
Morata even joked that Antonio Conte must be trying to reach out to him via his old mobile phone number. Numerous reports have claimed that Conte has spoken to his old striker quite often about a potential move to Stamford Bridge. For the time being, Morata is staunchly denying those reports.
You have to wonder if the lack of communication between Chelsea and Morata boils down to the Blues’ interest in Romelu Lukaku. It’s widely believed that Conte wants to add a new front man, and his decision may come down to those two players. His comfort level would be higher with Morata, but there’s no denying the fact that Lukaku is a proven Premier League goal scorer.
Add everything up and Morata is in quite an awkward situation. He would clearly prefer to cement a place in Zinedine Zidane’s starting XI, but he may not have the ability to supplant Karim Benzema. There’s also the distinct possibility that another talented forward, like Kylian Mbappe, could be purchased this summer.
Morata could easily find himself frozen out of the squad next year if he isn’t careful. He may ultimately have to accept a move to a lesser club if he wants to secure regular first team football. He and his representatives won’t want to hear that, but it may soon be the striker’s reality.
From the club’s perspective, Real Madrid would be wise to hold on to Morata. He’s a talented striker who has proven time and time again that he can be effective off the bench. That isn’t a role that every striker in Europe can handle. Even a supreme young talent like Mbappe might struggle without regular starts.
Having Morata in the squad means that Zidane always has a plan B off the substitute’s bench. The best case for Real Madrid is to convince Morata that is a role worth filling. If not, they may be forced to grant him another move away this summer.
