ALVARO MORATA is set for the fifth major move of a career that includes 16 trophies – so why is he considered a flop?
Spells at Chelsea, Real Madrid, Juventus and Atletico Madrid have all seen the Spanish striker display his best and worst assets.
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Now heading back to Turin on an initial loan deal, Morata is set to become one of football’s all-time most expensive players with total fees clocking £190million.
At first glance, the 27-year-old’s record is hugely impressive.
In over 400 career games, he has notched almost 150 goals in three different countries.
A pair of Champions League winners’ medals sit alongside his two Serie A crowns, two LaLiga titles, and, among others, an FA Cup.
And yet, he is rarely considered in lists of the world’s top strikers, has struggled to gain an affinity with fans around the continent, and has continually been allowed to leave ambitious clubs.
JOURNEYMAN
Football fans lust for loyalty, understandably, and in turn find the player who constantly moves clubs to be something of a nomad.
Some top players earn a positive reputation in this regard, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and 14-club sensation Christian Vieri.
Others, including Morata and Nicolas Anelka, see their reputations suffer as a result.
In heading to Juventus, the forward will complete his fourth move in just over four years.
With little long-lasting impact at either of his clubs, Morata is often relegated to the label of short-term fix.
As such, he struggled to acquire hero status at a number of his clubs.
I was very upset by the opinion of the people in England. I think they caught me in the middle of everything.
Alvaro Morata
Initially popular in Real Madrid, he rejoined the Spanish giants as the only major signing in 2016 and fans were less than enthusiastic.
A year later, he left for Chelsea where, after scoring seven goals in his first eight games, things went sour.
Morata didn’t score a league goal between Boxing Day and April 1, embodying the Blues’ decline from champions to agitated also-rans labouring outside the top-four.
The atmosphere at Stamford Bridge became no less toxic when Maurizio Sarri took over in 2018 and Morata’s middling form saw him criticised further, before a loan move to Atletico.
Even in Spain, playing for his boyhood club, there were dissenters with a handful of ultras chanting, “Less Morata, more Borja Garces” ahead of his arrival.
Most at the Wanda Metropolitano did love the attacker, it must be said.
ANTI-CLIMAX
Accusations that Morata struggles in big games have also been levelled, with both of his Champions League final wins coming via the bench.
He wasn’t trusted to start Atletico’s quarter-final exit in August having performed badly as they crashed out to Juve the year before.
This was less of an issue in Italy, where he notched vital Coppa Italia goals to seal two more winners’ medals, although his strike in the 2015 Champions League final could not prevent defeat to Barcelona.
And yet, Morata can hold up plenty of mitigating circumstances to explain his struggles.
Ousting Karim Benzema at Real Madrid has been an impossible job for several top-level attackers in the past decade.
Even as Real’s reserve striker, he notched 20 goals in his year back at the Bernabeu – en route to a league-and-Europe double.
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Alvaro Morata failed to ignite a struggling Chelsea sideCredit: PA:Press Association
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The Spanish forward is now set for a second stint with JuventusCredit: Getty Images – Getty
Managing to better a one-in-three goal-per-game rate at Los Blancos, Chelsea and Atletico is also no mean feat for a player who largely relies on his work rate and physicality outside the box.
The problems he encountered in West London were also not all of his own making.
A nightmare back injury ruined his final 12 months at Chelsea and the discontent around the club had roots far beyond one striker’s form.
The slatings Morata regularly received were allowed to get on top of the player, and he admitted to Goal last year: “I had lost confidence in myself previously.
“I was very upset by the opinion of the people in England. I think they caught me in the middle of everything.”
As the game’s most cherished journeyman, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had only bagged eight trophies in two leagues by Morata’s age.
At only 27, there is plenty of time for Morata to earn the reputation his goal tally, trophy cabinet and transfer fees would suggest he deserves.
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