Transfer Rumour: Alvaro Morata admits he wants to play under Antonio Conte, hints at Chelsea move

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has admitted that he wants to play under Antonio Conte in a major hint at a possible move to Chelsea

Alvaro Morata has dropped a major hint over a possible exit from Real Madrid after he claimed that he will definitely work with Chelsea manager Antonio Conte ‘sooner or later’. Speaking in an interview with the Guardian, Morata claimed that there were inquiries for his services last summer before admitting that he wants to play for Conte.

He said: “Various Premier League coaches called to tell me to play for them. I said I’d like to, that if I had to leave I would almost certainly go to London, but that I didn’t know what Madrid would do. I spoke directly to Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte, although the norm is that clubs call my dad or my agent.”

“Conte is the manager who most bet on me, without even ever having had me in his team. I’m very conscious of that — he bet on me for Juventus but left before I arrived; then he wanted me at Chelsea come what may.”

“I feel indebted to him because he’s the coach that most trusted in me, most wanted me, who made me feel I could perform at the highest level. Yet I’ve never had the fortune to actually work with him. I’m sure sooner or later I will.”

Morata has endured a frustrating return spell with Real Madrid since moving back to the Santiago Bernabeu from Juventus last summer. Los Blancos had exercised their buy-back option in Morata’s contract with the Bianconeri to bring him back to the Spanish capital, but it hasn’t quite gone as planned for him.

The 24-year-old has managed to start just 14 games all season, and despite playing a limited role under Zinedine Zidane, he has managed to bag 16 goals and 3 assists, even managing to score more goals in La Liga than first-choice striker Karim Benzema.

However, despite performing impressively, Morata has still not managed to become a regular in the Real Madrid first-team setup. As a result, a possible summer exit from the Santiago Bernabeu has been widely reported, with Chelsea being heavily linked with the Spain international.

With uncertainty surround the future of Diego Costa at Stamford Bridge, Conte could well be eyeing a reunion with Morata – a player he managed as Juventus boss. There have even been reports that Real Madrid could use Morata as a makeweight in a bid to land Eden Hazard.

Morata is eager to link up with Conte again as well and following his latest comments, it will be interesting to see how things develop in the last two months before the transfer window reopens in June. For now, though, he seems to have dropped a major hint towards a possible summer move to Chelsea.