Alvaro Morata will remain a Chelsea player for the start of the 2018-19 season, at least.
The Spaniard had been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after a frustrating first year in the capital, but Sky Sports now claim Morata will not be sold before the August 9 transfer deadline.
New manager Maurizio Sarri seems prepared to put faith in the striker, despite a poor goal return in his first Premier League campaign.
Arriving last summer for a £60 million fee, 15 goals in 48 appearances fell far short of what was expected of the 25-year-old.
However, a change of a number and a pair of arrivals in the Madrid-native’s own life seems to be indicative of a new chapter in Morata’s life.
Morata himself said:
A lot of things have changed in our lives and the only thing I have in my head now is to score, score, score! Then to come back home and stay with my babies and my wife.
The easiest thing would have been to leave Chelsea this year. I could have gone back to Italy. My wife is Italian, it is one hour to her home.
I could have gone back to Spain, I had a lot of offers. More money.
But I want to fight. I have had low pressure, because I had already played in Italy and Spain and done good things. But I decided to stay here, I wanted to.
Morata will compete for playing time with French World Cup winner Olivier Giroud and Michy Batshuayi.
