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| Chelsea land Spain international striker Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid for an initial fee of £58 million |
Chelsea have completed the signing of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata for an initial fee of £58 million which could rise to £70 million after add-ons. The Spain international becomes the Blues’ record signing, eclipsing the £50 million they gave Liverpool for Fernando Torres in 2011.
The capture of Morata will come as a huge relief for Blues fans with Diego Costa on the verge of rejoining Atletico Madrid. The 24-year-old has everything it takes to be a success at Chelsea. He’s a top-class striker who should excel as the undisputed first-choice under a manager who believes in his talents.
Morata is quick, strong, technically gifted and his composure in front of goal, good movement, and aerial prowess make him a perfect number 9. He might not bully defenders in the same way as Costa, but he does have the thirst to get involved in all aspects of forward play, and he could well be just what Chelsea are looking for. Morata as the focal point would bring in others at a quicker pace than Costa did. He’d also be able to feed off of the others around him by making in-behind runs in relation to those one-twos.
Morata’s style of play resembles that of the prolific Torres and he’ll be hoping to have a debut season in England like ‘El Nino’ had. Torres was an instant hit in the Premier League, scoring 24 goals for Liverpool in 2007/08. Previously, he had bagged 14 goals for Atletico Madrid in La Liga – one less than Morata scored for Los Blancos last season, despite playing second fiddle to Karim Benzema.
In fact, Morata was only outscored in the team by Cristiano Ronaldo. The Spaniard had more goals than starts in La Liga last season, bagging 15 goals in 26 appearances – making only 14 starts. He also assisted four goals and created 17 chances, which proves there’s more to his game than just goal-scoring.
He will be under pressure to perform straight away as the Blues look to defend the Premier League title, but Morata has all the attributes needed to thrive in English football. He is the perfect replacement for Costa.
Article by Chadley Nagel