The Daily Telegraph - Sport

Striker Morata forced to deny he prefers s Juventus to Chelsea

Striker backtracks after calling London ‘stressful’ Forward insists injury is healed ahead of Roma tie

- By Matt Law in Rome

Alvaro Morata has been forced to allay fears that Chelsea have yet another unhappy striker on their hands and even went so far as talking himself into claiming he would sign a 10-year contract with the club.

Ahead of the Champions League Group C clash against Roma tonight, Morata sparked concern among Chelsea fans that the club could soon have another Diego Costa situation on their hands.

In an interview with Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea’s record signing was quoted as saying he missed Italy and should never have left Juventus, and described London as “too much stress”.

The remarks had a distinct echo of the interviews Costa used to give to the Spanish press about missing life in Madrid, before eventually forcing through a return to Atletico.

Morata joined Juventus from Real Madrid and spent two seasons in Italy before the La Liga club activated a buy-back clause to re-sign him.

Morata told Gazzetta: “I arrived [in Italy] feeling like a boy and I returned feeling like a true player. I should never have left Italy and Juve. I really miss Italy. My wife would like to live in Spain; I’d like to live in Italy.”

Morata then appeared to leave how long he intends to stay at Chelsea open to interpreta­tion. Asked how he finds London, Morata replied: “I’m fine. I live in downtown Chelsea. What fascinates me about London is its multi-ethnicity, the coexistenc­e of cultures and religions, but I do not see myself living here for very long. It’s too big, too much stress, too much of a metropolis.”

Costa asked to leave Chelsea either during or at the end of each of his three seasons at the club before finally going on strike this summer to force through his return to Atletico Madrid. But Morata used Chelsea’s pre-match press conference in Rome to clarify his comments to Gazzetta and insist he was not Costa Mark II – even if his claim that he would sign up for 10 years was difficult to take seriously just months into his five-year contact.

“We had a problem of understand­ing in this interview,” said Morata. “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 make good [performanc­es] and improve, I can stay here more than five years. But I need to score many goals, otherwise Chelsea will buy another player. It’s normal.”

Pushed on what he meant by saying he would not remain in London for too long, Morata, who was born in Madrid, added: “I want to say, probably in the future, when I finish in my career, I won’t live in London. But now, at the moment, I’m very happy in London and enjoy living in London with my wife.

“But probably, in the future, when I need to bring my child to a school or when I finish my career, I’d prefer to come back to my country. It’s normal.

“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 traffic and that there are a lot of people. But it’s an incredible city with many religions and many kinds of different people, so I really enjoy London.”

Antonio Conte, Chelsea’s head coach, has become frustrated by constant speculatio­n regarding his own future at the club and does not need doubts surfacing over any of his star players.

But Conte is confident Morata is settling into life at Stamford Bridge and said: “I think Alvaro is a good person and is enjoying his time in London, enjoying playing with Chelsea, a great team. And I know very well where he’s living now with his wife. It was the same building that I lived in last season. A lovely place and not so far from the training ground.

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

“Personally, you know very well that last season I was alone without my family. When you stay abroad to work and, above all, you work with a lot of pressure, it’s good to have your family with you. This season, for example, I solved this problem because my family stay with me and we’re enjoying our time in Cobham, living in Cobham. We are enjoying London.

“It’s a fantastic experience for me, for Alvaro, for every single player who decides to have this fantastic experience in a really tough league. Above all living in London.”

Morata has not scored for five games since netting against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and injuring his hamstring.

“Honestly, now I’m 100 per cent fit,” he said. “Probably in the last few games I’ve not been at the best physical form, but now I’m better.”

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 ??  ?? Happy really: Alvaro Morata faces the media ahead of tonight’s match
Happy really: Alvaro Morata faces the media ahead of tonight’s match

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