The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Alvaro Morata

  • Is Morata really having back pain?

    Is Morata really having back pain?

     

    Elements of doubt now hover around Chelsea forward Alvaro Morata and his goal drought and reported persistent back problems.

    The 25 year old has been ruled out for the rest of the season on account of the pains.  But when footage emerged of the Spain international spinning around with his wife in his arms in their kitchen at home on Sunday night, there was an obvious question being asked by those watching

    What was a man facing possibly missing the rest of the season with a chronic back problem doing putting strain on the affected area and then publishing video of it online?

    Antonio Conte has admitted he is in the dark over how long Morata will be out for and, for a striker who hasn’t scored since Boxing Day, the questions are adding up.

    Chelsea’s £70.6million record signing has been out for almost a month and has been publicly courting a move back to Real Madrid. It is not a good look.

    Morata first started suffering problems with his back as early as mid-December.

    Chelsea were fresh from their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Arsenal with trips to West Ham and Huddersfield Town lined up for the coming days in the Premier League.

    Sunday’s release of the video footage, shared by his wife, only added to the scrutiny.

    Morata’s work in dealing with his back injury has included visits to doctor Peter Wehling, a specialist who has worked with basketball’s Kobe Bryant in the past.

    Chelsea have their striker in at their Cobham headquarters each day, trying to manage the injury and find a solution through physiotherapy.

    Despite Conte’s protestations about the problem this week, Morata was always thought to be hopeful of a return in time to face Barcelona in the Champions League.

  • Isco and Morata team up in London night out

    Isco and Morata team up in London night out

     

    Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata was reunited with former Real Madrid team-mate Isco this week as the pair enjoyed time in London together during the Spanish winter break.

    After being benched for Madrid’s crunch El Clasico clash with Barcelona last weekend, Spanish midfielder Isco decided to make the trip to the English capital with his girlfriend Sara Salamo.

    Morata, who was enjoying a short break from the busy Premier League schedule, posted a photo on Instagram of himself and his newly-pregnant wife Alice Campello hanging out with Isco and his girlfriend in London.

    And it appeared that Morata very much enjoyed spending some quality downtime with his good friend following his big-money move from Madrid in the summer.

    The 25-year-old Spaniard captioned his social media post: ‘What a joy to be able to share with you for a while! Hope to repeat soon!’

    The Spanish duo are longtime friends after lifting the under-21 European Championships together in 2011, as well as being team-mates for both club and country.

    Meanwhile, Isco and his partner made the most of their trip to London by visiting Camden Town and the local restaurants, as well as listening to some live music.

    Isco’s girlfriend Salamo posted pictures and videos on her Instagram story of the loved-up pair dining together as well as listening to some music in the crisp London conditions.

    Despite the midfielder’s innocent trip to visit his friend in London, some Chelsea fans got rather excited about the prospect of Morata trying to convince him to sign for the Stamford Bridge outfit.

    Isco will soon have to turn his attentions back to football as Madrid return to action on January 4 against Numancia in the Copa del Rey before taking on Celta Vigo in La Liga just three days later.

  • Morata: London too stressful for my liking

    Morata: London too stressful for my liking

     

     

    Alvaro Morata says he cannot see himself living in London very long, admitting he finds England’s capital “stressful”, ahead of returning to Italy for Chelsea’s clash with Roma.

    The striker left Juventus in 2016 to re-join Real Madrid after the Spanish club activated a buy-back clause in his contract, having won two Serie A titles and helped Juve reach the Champions League final in his two years in Turin.

    Despite struggling to earn regular first-team opportunities at Real Madrid, Morata has quickly got up to speed with the Premier League since moving to Chelsea – scoring six goals in nine appearances – but it is the pace of life off the pitch which is taking its toll on the forward.

    “I’m fine,” Morata told Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I live in downtown Chelsea. London fascinates me with its multi-ethnicity, the coexistence of cultures and religions, but I do not see myself living here for very long. Too much, too much stress, too many metropolises.”

    Morata, whose wife is Italian, felt he arrived at Juventus “a boy” but left as “a real player”, admitting the environment was perfectly suited for him – and not one he wanted to leave in order to return to Madrid.

    N’Golo Kante, who has not played in a month, trained on Monday ahead of Chelsea’s Champions League tie against Roma on Tuesday

    “Italy for a Spaniard is the best country to live,” he said. “You have everything: beauty, history, art, cooking, fashion. I would never have left Italy and Juve.

    “The disappointment [of leaving Juventus] was enormous, I found myself back to the starting point. They [Real Madrid] treated me like the guy I was before the two Italian seasons.”

    Antonio Conte says Chelsea must fight to transform their season in a pivotal week ahead.

    Morata missed out on the chance to work with Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte at Juventus as the player’s arrival in 2014 came shortly before the Italian’s exit, but the lure of playing under Conte was the decisive factor in moving to Stamford Bridge.

    “I came here because there was a coach like Antonio Conte,” Morata added. “We started talking about my eventual transfer last spring and finally I really landed in London. ”

    Morata, whose wife Alice Campello is Italian and moved to London with him, admitted he regretted leaving Juventus to return to Madrid – explaining the environment in Italy was perfectly suited for him.

    He added: ‘Italy for a Spaniard is the best country to live. You have everything: beauty, history, art, cooking, fashion. I would never have left Italy and Juve. Morata submission is being viewed in some quarters as possible exit notice despite just ariving the Stamford Bridge in the summer in a £70m deal

  • Batshuayi strikes late to give Chelsea win

    Batshuayi strikes late to give Chelsea win

    Chelsea striker Michy Batshuayi came off the bench to snatch a 2-1 win at Atletico Madrid on Wednesday with the last kick of the game.

    The result took Antonio Conte’s side top of Champions League Group C.

    France international Antoine Griezmann rammed a penalty kick beyond former Atletico goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to give the home side a barely-deserved lead in the 40th minute.

    He was scoring the first European goal at their new stadium after striking the first Liga goal there this month.

    Former Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata, who also spent time in Atletico’s youth system, pulled Chelsea level by glancing in Eden Hazard’s cross in the 60th minute.

    This was after the visitors had failed to make their first-half dominance count.

    Batshuayi replaced Morata with seven minutes remaining and inflicted a first home defeat on Atletico since September, 2015.

    It turns wide a Marcos Alonso cutback from close range deep into stoppage-time.

    “It’s very difficult when Atletico score [first] to come back, but in spite of this we deserved to win. We continued to play with good personality, we kept our heads on the pitch in every moment,” Chelsea coach Conte told a news conference.

    “We must be pleased with the performance and overall the personality we showed.

    “I always tell my players that it doesn’t change when you play at home or away, you have to play with the same personality and desire to play and try to deserve to win.”

    Atletico coach Diego Simeone has likened his side’s new home to the Circus Maximus in Rome.

    The club’s famously vociferous fans made a noise fitting of the biggest game in the stadium’s short existence, but Chelsea soon calmed the crowd.

    Hazard, without a goal in the Champions League since March 2015, was Chelsea’s chief creator.

    He dashed through the middle to lay the ball off for Morata to screw wide and then hitting the woodwork himself with a ferocious long-range strike.

    “Chelsea felt more comfortable than us and won the game deservedly,” said Atletico coach Simeone.

    “They were superior tactically and physically. They are a very competitive team, they showed more maturity than us and we have to congratulate them.”

    Atletico struggled to get into Chelsea’s half but capitalised from their first real foray forward.

    A deflected shot from Saul Niguez earned a corner kick from which David Luiz hauled Lucas Hernandez to the floor, leaving Griezmann to score a third goal in four games.

    Simeone’s side could have grabbed a second on the cusp of halftime when Courtois could only hold Koke’s stinging shot but Saul slotted the rebound just wide of the near post.

    A two-goal deficit would have been grossly unfair on Conte’s adventurous side, who also had the better of the second half.

    Morata wasted a chance to strike again when he skipped towards goal unchallenged, scuffing the ball wide of Jan Oblak’s goal.

    But Belgian international Batshuayi needed just one chance to grab the win that was as dramatic as it was deserved.

  • EPL Results: Man City, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea win matches

    EPL Results: Man City, Man U, Liverpool, Chelsea win matches

    Man City vs Crystal Palace 5-0

    Palace held Man City out until the 44th minute before Leroy Sane broke the deadlock and a quick fire double by Raheem Sterling deflated the visitors’ initially stubborn resistance.

    Late goals by Sergio Aguero and Fabian Delph completed a 5-0 route, making it the third time City hit five or more in three successive games.

    Southampton vs Man United 0-1

    Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock on 20 minutes, converting the rebound after Saints goalkeeper Fraser Forster parried his header from Ashley Young’s cross.

    The result maintains United’s unbeaten start to their league campaign, although they are second in the table, behind Manchester City on goal difference.

    Their latest victory was not routine as Southampton piled on the pressure in the second half, and United’s Marouane Fellaini had to clear Oriol Romeu’s header off the line

    Leicester City vs Liverpool 2-3

    Simon Mignolet saved Jamie Vardy’s penalty to clinch a thrilling 3-2 win for Liverpool at Leicester city

    The goalkeeper capped an eventful game after conceding the spot-kick having also been in the spotlight for Shinji Okazaki’s controversial strike.

    Mignolet appeared to be held by the forward when he netted just before the break after Leicester trailed to goals from Mohamed Salah and Philippe Coutinho.

    Jordan Henderson made it 3-1 before Vardy netted but he was then denied from the spot by Mignolet.

    Stoke vs Chelsea 0-4

    Blues continued to show there is life after Diego Costa with another Premier League victory at Stoke, with Alvaro Morata scoring a hat-trick in a 4-0 win.

    Morata, the club-record signing bought to replace Costa, was on the scoresheet again early on before Pedro extended the lead on the half-hour mark.

    Both goals came from defensive mistakes by Stoke, whose manager Mark Hughes had demanded a response from his players following the disappointing midweek defeat at Bristol City in the Carabao Cup. He did not get it, with Morata rounding off the win in the final quarter-hour.

  • Morata would make a perfect inlaw- Conte

    Morata would make a perfect inlaw- Conte

     

    Chelsea coach Antonio Conte is not only impressed by Alvaro Morata on the pitch performance but believes the Spaniard is a perfect material one could have for In- in-law.

    Describing the 24 year old as a good boy, Conte added that the behavior of the former Juventus and Real Madrid forward is something to write home about.

    The two have been reunited in London after the striker’s big money move from Real Madrid during the summer transfer window. It comes after their spell together in Turin with Juventus and Morata has already settled well into life at Stamford Bridge.”I like him because he’s a complete player but he has a lot of room for improvement in every area.

    He’s very committed on a technical, tactical and physical level,” said the Italian.”His behavior is always fantastic. It is all a process and when I talk about him needing to improve, I’m also referring to a sense of being more aggressive.”It is the right time for him at the age of 24. He’s a very good boy. If you had a daughter, he’d be the kind of person you’d want with her, even to marry her!”However, while Conte was happy to discuss one Spain international striker at length, he was less willing to dwell on Diego Costa, who has already joined former club Atletico Madrid.”I’m not interested in talking about the past,” he added. “I don’t think the past is important. For everyone, the past stays there.”

    Morata got Chelsea’s first goal against Stoke Saturday after just 83 seconds.

  • Chelsea confirm Alvaro Morata agreement

    Chelsea confirm Alvaro Morata agreement

     

    CHELSEA have announced they have an agreement in place for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata

    The Spanish side have released a statement thanking the 24-year-old for his service at the Bernabeu.

    It read: “The club wishes to express its thanks for the dedication, professionalism and exemplary conduct displayed by the player over the years, spanning his time in our academy right through to his spell as a member of the first-team squad.”

    Morata helped Real to La Liga and Champions League glory last season but will now test himself in the Premier League.

    Chelsea have been chasing a striker all summer after Antonio Conte told Diego Costa he was surplus to requirements at the club.

    Romelu Lukaku was said to be the Blues’ top target but the Belgian opted to join Manchester United instead.

    Morata will become Chelsea’s fourth summer signing after Tiemoue Bakayoko, Antonio Rudiger and Willy Caballero.

    The Blues are currently on their pre-season tour of the Far East.

    When they return they will start the new campaign against Arsenal at Wembley in the Community Shield on Sunday, August 6.

  • Real Madrid rejects Man U’s £52.4m bid for Morata

    Real Madrid rejects Man U’s £52.4m bid for Morata

    Real Madrid have rejected a £52.4m (€60m) offer for striker Alvaro Morata from Manchester United, Sky in Italy understand.
    United goalkeeper David de Gea was not included in the offer, while Real Madrid are thought to want in the region of £78m for the forward.
    The Spain international scored 20 goals in all competitions for Real last season, as the club clinched La Liga and the Champions League.
    Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata has been linked with a move away from the La Liga champions, could a move to the Premier League be on the cards?
    If Manchester United fail to agree a deal for Morata, it is understood they will try to sign Andrea Belotti from Torino, who has a €100m (£87.3m) release clause in his contract.
    Born in Madrid, Morata progressed through the Real Madrid academy to make his first team debut in December 2010, before exiting for Juventus in the summer of 2014 for £17.5m.
    There are strong indications that United may go in pursuit of Torino’s Andrea Belotti should they fail to agree the Morata deal with Real Madrid.
    In two seasons with Juventus, Morata won two Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles and was part of a run to the 2015 Champions League final, scoring as Juve lost 3-1 to Barcelona.
    In June 2016, Real Madrid exercised a buy-back clause to bring Morata back from Juventus for £26.2m, and the forward has emerged as a key member of Zinedine Zidane’s squad.