CONTE: MORATA CAN BE MY KANE

ANTONIO CONTE wants to give Alvaro Morata the same sort of polish Mauricio Pochettino has given Harry Kane.

Chelsea boss Conte (right) dubbed Kane the “complete striker” in the summer and said that, if he could buy any frontman, it would be the Tottenham ace.

His words caused a few raised eyebrows, not least from Pochettino, and seemed strange at a time when the Blues had just splashed £58million on Morata.

But Conte insists he was misunderstood and claims he was only voicing his admiration for what Pochettino has done with Kane.

And with all eyes set to be on the two strikers when Spurs host Chelsea at Wembley this afternoon, Conte has backed Morata to go on and become a “fantastic striker” for his club. He said: “Recently, I said that I have admiration for Kane, but it’s normal. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like my players.

“My only intention was to underline the great job Pochettino is doing. Harry Kane wasn’t this player three years ago. Now he is another player, he has improved.

“Morata is a young player, he needs to improve his physical condition and he needs a bit of time to reach the top.”

Conte sprang a surprise by starting Michy Batshuayi ahead of Morata in the 3-2 defeat by Burnley.

But the 24-year-old Spain star changed the game when introduced and was unlucky not to score a second goal on his debut.

Conte said: “Morata didn’t play regularly at Real Madrid. When you don’t play regularly, you sometimes lose your performance.

“You need time to recover this – but we want Morata to play regularly for Chelsea.”