Alvaro Morata Must Cut Ties With Real Madrid To Fulfil Undoubted Potential.

Following a successful two-year spell at Juventus under the stewardship of Massimiliano Allegri at Juventus, Alvaro Morata finds himself back at his ‘beloved’ Real Madrid. Morata was purchased from Real Madrid by then coach Antonio Conte in 2014 for a fee of 20million euros. Conte thought it was the perfect opportunity for Morata to gain some much needed experience and game time for him to blossom into a potential ‘World Class’ striker. Although he did not spend much time with Conte who left to become Italy national team coach, current coach Massimiliano Allegri took him under his wing and proved the catalyst for Morata to become a success in Turin. He was rewarded with his first Spanish cap while at the club and has gone on to become their attacking focal point at the expense of Chelsea hotshot Diego Costa. 8 goals in 18 caps for Spain is not a bad start for the young Spanish striker.

His two year spell at Juventus was in all honesty a fruitful one as Juventus coach Allegri took him under his wing and provided the Spaniard with much needed game time and experience at the top level. 27 goals in 93 games he got for Juventus as he fired the club to two Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles, a runners up medal in the UEFA Champions League as Juventus lost to winners Barcelona in 2015. To add to that, he won the trophy the year before with Madrid plus a La Liga medal in 2012 and two Copa Del Rey titles. In his young fledgling career, Morata has experienced a lot of trophies in his career so far.

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Alvaro Morata enjoyed a fruitful two year spell at Juventus (2014-2016).

His understanding with Mario Mandzukic struck fear into opposition defences as their sheer power mixed with pace brought a successful strike partnership – one that led to an unprecedented Serie A title and a Coppa Italia trophy to boot as well as the Runners up medal in the Champions League. His performances led to a contract extension in December 2015 until 2020.

However, that contract extension didn’t mean a great deal as Real Madrid exercised their option to buy back Morata last summer for a fee of 30million euros as Zidane searched for added fire power to what was already a full and dangerous attack with Ronaldo, Benzema and Gareth Bale plus Lucas Vazquez, Isco and James Rodriguez. With Karim Benzema as the main choice in Zidane’s line-up, Morata has found himself on the fringes at the Bernabeu. With the Spaniard only turning 24 last October, he is at an age where needs to be playing more than he has. Will a move away from the club be what he needs to fulfil the ‘future Spain No.9’ tag?

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Morata is looking for a move away from the club according to various reports.

According to various reports, Alvaro Morata is growing frustrated at his lack of game time. It is said that he would seek a move away from Real Madrid in the summer should Zinedine Zidane remain at the helm after a string of broken promises. The 24-year old is reported to have been given assurances he would receive a fair chance to usurp Karim Benzema as the clubs main striker.

Sky Sports’ La Liga expert Guillem Balague has confirmed Alvaro Morata’s desire to leave the La Liga leaders:

“Alvaro Morata wants to leave the Bernabeu as he feels he is not being treated properly. He knows there are teams in England and Italy that want him. Plus, the Diego Costa issue means both player and Chelsea would be happy with a transfer at the end of the season and Atletico would love to get him back.”

Morata has made 30 appearances this season, scoring 11 goals in all competitions this season but has started just twice in La Liga since early November while he began just one of Madrid’s six Champions League group stage fixtures before the end of they year.

The Spanish international was the subject of massive amounts of interest in the summer especially from Arsenal who were believed to have been readying a bid for the attacker while at Juventus but Real Madrid stepped in and activated their buy-back option on the player. It is reported that Morata has instructed his agent to seek out moves to Chelsea or Arsenal in the summer should Zidane remain as coach.

With the debacle surrounding Diego Costa at Chelsea, it is reported that he would be considering an offer from former club Atletico Madrid or from the Chinese Super League, if so, that would pave the way for Conte to purchase Morata for the second time and release him of his Real Madrid misery. Madrid’s need to sign a new goalkeeper next summer and long-running interest in Blues stopper Thibaut Courtois could also help to make a deal with Chelsea more likely.

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Could Alvaro Morata be a potential long-term replacement for wantaway striker Diego Costa?

A player of Morata’s calibre is too good to be wasting away on the bench at Real Madrid, or does Zidane have some sort of plan to revive the Spaniard’s stop-start season? It is also reported that Benzema could be subject of a move to the Chinese Super League in the summer which could allow Morata to be his replacement as Madrid’s attacking threat. Nonetheless, wherever Morata goes he will be a huge asset in the long-term. If so at Chelsea, he would be a direct replacement for Costa who both share similar qualities; strong, agile, good in the air, tenacity and an eye for goal – then again Conte did snap up Morata from Real during his last few months at Juventus before he left for the Italy job – he would absolutely jump at the chance to sign Morata again.

Morata’s situation at Real Madrid is not ideal for a man of his talents. The 24 year old is at a point in his career where he needs to be playing and that’s not looking likely under Zidane at Real Madrid. Karim Benzema is clearly the favourite at the Santiago Bernabeu. If Morata wants to fulfil his potential and to become a top striker as he has been touted to be then he may have to look elsewhere for opportunities.

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By Matt

Matt is the owner and chief-editor of the Footy Blog, one of the UK's leading football news blogs.