According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata is still seeking clarification on his role under manager Zinedine Zidane. Morata's ultimate wish is to be a regular at Santiago Bernabéu, and leave a mark on the team by winning trophies. This has been Morata's stated aim for some time, even during his spell at Juventus.
While Madrid's asking price - which has supposedly turned into an absolute refusal to let go of the player - remains a giant hurdle, a move to Chelsea is still a possibility. Marca says that Conte himself has held talks "on a daily basis" with Morata, giving assurances that he would get a key role at the Blues were he to move to Stamford Bridge — this has also been a long-standing rumor this summer.
Alvaro Morata to hold talks with Real Madrid as Chelsea plan partnership with Diego Costa (by @sjstandardsport) https://t.co/46x8BOW4IQ
— Standard Sport (@standardsport) July 19, 2016
Another factor in favour of a move to Chelsea by Morata are the personal terms offered by the English club, which would apparently eclipse his current wages in Spain.
Reports claimed that Chelsea had a €60 million bid refused by Madrid, but an €80 million approach could change their mind. In the meantime, Cristiano Ronaldo's absence from the pitch due to a knee injury picked up in the European Championships final could open a starting slot for Morata during the first few months of the season, making his choice to stay at Madrid more appealing.
Until talks between Zidane and Morata are held, the player's destiny is still up in the air. But in any case, it's hard to get my head around spending €80 million - or almost two-thirds of a Paul Pogba - on another striker. We can probably, hopefully safely ignore this (though if Diego Costa were indeed to leave, as other rumors in Spain would have us believe), then Chelsea's need to buy Morata would suddenly increase multiple-fold.