Chelsea continue to track Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata — report

According to Spanish newspaper El Confidencial, Chelsea are still tracking Real Madrid striker Álvaro Morata after the supposed (and ultimately unsuccessful) attempt last summer at signing him. Water is wet, sky is blue, Conte wants Morata, and so on.

Despite his best intentions of fighting for a spot at Real after leaving Juventus, Morata has struggled for playing time. He has only 740 minutes across 16 appearances (7 starts) in the Spanish league, though he has managed to find the back of net 8 times and contributed with a couple assists as well. His latest contribution was the winning goal in Sunday’s 3-2 comeback over Villareal.

Morata has been tipped for greatness since 2014, but he’s yet to truly rise to that level. Even during his time at Juventus he was mostly used as a super-sub rather than a regular starter, never surpassing the mark of 1,500 minutes played in Serie A. It was Antonio Conte who signed Morata for Juventus back then, but the Chelsea head coach ended up leaving the club before they could work together. He supposedly remains a keen admirer of the 24-year-old’s playing style.

Unlike other potential options for (eventually?) replacing Diego Costa, Morata does have a reputation for being a well-rounded striker, even though he doesn’t nearly have the goal totals of a Romelu Lukaku or even an Andrea Belotti. And unless Madrid are willing to accept less than the €75 million rejected last summer, it is difficult to wrap the mind around paying such a high price for someone who has yet to show that he can feature successfully week in and out for a top team.