Morata insists he does love London

interview. If Chelsea proposed me 10 years I’d probably sign that too. I’m happy with this club, in this city, with everything in London. I really like London and, probably, if I improve, I can stay here more than fi ve years.

“But I need to score many goals otherwise Chelsea will buy another player.”

In the interview with an Italian newspaper published on Monday, the Spain striker had said: “I do not see myself living here for very long. It’s too big, too much stress, too much of a metropolis.”

That set alarm bells ringing as Diego Costa made similar remarks before forcing a move back to Atletico Madrid.

But Morata went back on those comments altogether in Chelsea’s pre- match press conference, saying: “I wanted to say, probably in the future when I fi nish in my career, I won’t live in London.

“But now I’m very happy and enjoy living in London with my wife. Probably, in the future, when I need to bring my child to the school and take up school when I fi nish my career, I’d prefer to come back to my country. For me, I prefer the place I was born. But now I’m very happy.

“When I say it’s a stressful city, I’m only talking about the traffi c and that there are a lot of people. But it’s an incredible city with many religions and many kinds of different people.”

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, left, shrugged off the comments, insisting he knows Morata is happy – because he was living in the same building last season. He said: “Alvaro is enjoying his time in London and playing with Chelsea. And I know very well where he’s living with his wife. It was the same building I lived in last season – a lovely place .

“But I’m also sure about this because every time I have spoken with him, he has told me he’s very happy – happy for this fantastic experience for him and his wife.”