Conte wants patience with Morata
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte wants patience over Alvaro Morata, claiming that the forward needs time to adapt.
The striker is embarking on his first season in English football, after spells playing in Italy and Spain with Juventus and Real Madrid.
Conte says that Morata needs some time to adapt his game to suit the role he wants him to play in the side, admitting that it is a difficult role to get used to.
The Spanish international made his competitive debut for Chelsea in the Community Shield last weekend, which ended in disappointed as he missed a penalty in their defeat to Arsenal.
Speaking in his press conference, Conte said this:
Alvaro is working very well and is improving a lot.
In these 10 days he is improving his physical condition and is starting to understand what we want, but he needs time to understand to adapt to our style of football.
It is normal for me, and also for players that start to work with me, that they need time to adapt to our style of football.
A striker is a really important role and it is very important to understand which is the position I want during the game. It is more difficult to adapt than with the other roles.
Morata joined Chelsea for a club-record £70m from Real Madrid last month, replacing Diego Costa as Conte’s first choice striker.
Costa looks set to leave the club before the end of the month, with Italian side AC Milan heavily linked with the Spaniard.