Alvaro Morata has claimed that Chelsea made an attempt to sign him this summer when he moved from Juventus back to his former club Real Madrid.
The Spanish international made the move from Real Madrid to Juve back in June of 2014 for a fee of around £17 million. The Spanish giants opted to initiate a buyback clause of £23 million that they had inserted into his contract when he made the move to Italy two years ago in order to take him back to the Bernabeu.
The striker scored 27 goals in 93 games for Juve after he was signed to the Italian club by the current Chelsea boss Antonio Conte. Speaking to the German newspaper Sport Bild the forward admitted that he was tempted by a move to Stamford Bridge after his former boss was one of those most keen for his signature.
Morata said, “Chelsea showed the most interest”. He also said that the offer for his signature was a significant one that would have made him a record signing, “Antonio Conte had already signed me for Juventus and it was a very good offer this time. I would have been the most expensive Spanish player ever”.
The 23-year-old has got off to a good start to his life in Spain, having netted twice in his opening five games for Los Blancos. His goals have helped his former club to the top of the La Liga table and they’ll be hoping that he continues his good form moving forward. He’ll also be keen to replicate the form that he had in Turin that persuaded Real to re-sign him this summer.
He was tempted to make a move to West London but confessed that heading back to the Bernabeu was an opportunity that was too good to turn down. He said, “They offered roughly 70 million Euros, but Real Madrid said they had me in their plans and that was always my dream”.
Chelsea, meanwhile, will be hoping that the player that they signed as an alternative to Morata will be able to continue the form he’s had since his big money move to Stamford Bridge. Michy Batshuayi was brought in for around £33 million from Marseille in the summer. The Belgian international has so far scored three goals in his six appearances but has been playing second fiddle to Diego Costa since his arrival.
The 22-year-old scored 44 goals in 120 appearances in all competitions for Standard Liege, earning him a £4.5 million move to the French club. He scored 33 goals in 78 games at the Stade Vélodrome, enough to catch the attention of Antonio Conte and persuade the Chelsea head coach to splash out big money to take him to London.