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Chelsea news: Alvaro Morata aims Antonio Conte dig, flirts with Real Madrid return
CHELSEA striker Alvaro Morata says he is enjoying his time at Stamford Bridge more under Maurizio Sarri than under previous boss Antonio Conte because of the Italian’s more attacking style.
Alvaro Morata is at a position of need for Madrid, says expert
Conte signed Morata in a deal worth up to £70million from Real Madrid a year ago but the Spaniard failed to repay the manager’s faith in a difficult first season.
After a strong start with seven goals in his first eight games, Morata ended the campaign on 15 goals in 48 matches across all competitions, scoring just one league goal after Boxing Day.
His barren run led him to miss out on Spain’s World Cup squad, the reason that Morata looked to leave the Bernabeu in the first place having only been a back-up option in the Spanish capital.
The 25-year-old’s struggles were so distinct that he was even linked with a Chelsea exit in the summer with AC Milan and Borussia Dortmund among the clubs linked with interest.
But new boss Sarri has stuck by Morata, starting him in all of Chelsea’s first four Premier League matches of the new campaign.
The towering front-man has so far scored once, netting the second goal of a 3-2 win over Arsenal last month.
And he insists he is enjoying his football more so now than under Conte, whose tactics ad decision-making attracted flak towards the end of his tenure as Chelsea ended finishing fifth last season.
“Is it better with Sarri than Conte? Yes, yes, yes. It’s not for nothing but for the style of play,” Morata said on Spanish radio station Cadena SER.
“It [Conte’s gameplan] was not my style of play and I suffered a little because of that.”
It was not my style of play and I suffered a little because of that.
Yet Morata acknowledged that the criticism he received was fair, though insisted his critics did not know the fully story behind his poor form as he opened up about playing through the pain of a back injury.
“In today’s world it [criticism] is normal. Chelsea made a major effort for me and it was not returned,” he continued.
“I should have repaid them double. A player they pay for can't finish the season with 15 goals.
"People think we're machines. If I had stopped for three months, I would have come back with a clear head, but I was professional and I wanted to give everything.
"If I could go back, I would stop for two months. I was in pain, I went to Germany to see the doctor, paying for private planes.
“People believe the false life of Instagram, what it shows you; they thought I was at home with my wife. Someday, I'll write a book about what I've been through."
And Morata - who also spent two seasons at Juventus - has refused to shut the door on a potential return to Madrid later in his career.
The forward, who came through the La Liga club’s academy, said: “Who would not like it?
“I am happy at Chelsea but I have many years ahead in my career if God and injuries allow it.
“Mariano said Madrid never close the door and look what happened [when he returned from Lyon]. You never know.
“[But] I’m in Chelsea, not in a team that are very inferior [to Madrid]. It is clear Madrid are the best in the world and everyone wants to be there but I’m not envious [of Mariano].”