According to Spanish newspaper Marca, Chelsea striker Álvaro Morata has his heart and mind set on a return to La Liga, and his youth club Atlético Madrid.
So keen he is in fact, that he is willing to take a pay cut, even, to ease his impact on the club’s tight wage bill.
Novedades importantes en el caso Morata: está dispuesto a bajarse el sueldo para jugar en el Atlético https://t.co/LH2uNsZKbh
— FichajesMARCA (@Marcatransfer) January 14, 2019
With Chelsea reportedly looking for a loan club that will take his entire €9 million per year wages, a pay cut would certainly facilitate things for Atlético. It's unclear how exactly that would work unless Atleti agreed to make the deal permanent however (alongside an entirely new contract).
Considering their tight budget (and their need to get rid of some of their own deadwood like Gelson Martins or Nikola Kalinic), it seems unlikely that they'd be able to stump up the cash that would be needed to make that work (Chelsea reportedly rejected an offer worth a total of €40m from Sevilla already).
But let's not ask complicated questions.
Atlético, antes de entrar dejen salir... para la llegada de Morata https://t.co/E4gnSykBzJ
— FichajesMARCA (@Marcatransfer) January 15, 2019