Alvaro Morata had stirred up a furore in an interview to an Italian media outlet wherein he stated that living in London was too stressful but the Chelsea striker backtracked on his earlier statements at on the eve of the Blues’ UEFA Champions League tie with Roma, as he insisted he was happy with life in the English capital.
“In the interview I wanted to say in the future, when I finish my career, I probably won’t live in London, but right now I’m very happy there with my wife,” Morata explained at the pre-match press conference in Rome.
“I really like London now but probably in the future, when I want to send my child to school, when I finish my career, I would prefer to come back to my country, where I was born, that’s normal. I’m very happy,” added the 25-year-old Spaniard.
Morata, who came through the ranks at the Real Madrid academy, has won the League in Spain and in Italy (with Juventus).
After struggling to break into the first-team at Real, Morata went to Turin, where he spent a fruitful two seasons. Coincidentally Antonio Conte, the current Chelsea manager, was his boss over there as well and the duo enjoyed great success as the Bianconeri dominated Italian football.
Impressed by his form in Italy, Real activated a buy-back clause in his contract and while Morata was a part of the side that won the La Liga and the UEFA Champions League last season, he was unable to get a run of starts ahead of the likes of Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo.
A £60 million move to Stamford Bridge beckoned and the Spaniard silenced his doubters with an impressive start to life as a Chelsea player, with a highlight being a sensational hat-trick at Stoke City.
“When I say it’s a stressful city I’m talking about the traffic and the fact there are a lot of people. But it’s an incredible city with many religions and many different kinds of people, I’m really enjoying London,” Morata asserted.
And to assuage fears of Chelsea fans, who had been worried that their record signing might leave after a season or two Morata stated: “If Chelsea had proposed a 10-year contract I would have signed it. I’m very happy at this club, in the city and with everything in London. I really like London. If I’m good and I improve, I could probably stay here for more than five years but I need to score many goals, otherwise Chelsea will buy another player, that’s normal.”
However, a hamstring injury against Manchester City interrupted his season and while the Spaniard has made a comeback, he is yet to score since his return. And the forward, who turned 25 on October 25, revealed that he was not at 100 per cent then, but now he is fully fit.
“Honestly now I’m 100 per cent fit,’ Morata explained.
“Probably in the last few games I wasn’t at the best of my physical form, but now I’m better. It was a little injury but it was 20 days for me to finally be in good condition,” the Spaniard added.