Chelsea splashed a club record £60m for then Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata back in the summer and although the Spaniard showed early signs of optimism, he failed to keep up the momentum as the season progressed and has only managed 10 Premier League goals thus far.
Chelsea were initially interested in signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton, while Morata was a reported target for Manchester United. But with Real Madrid playing utter hardball with United, they wasted no time in agreeing on an initial £75m fee for the Belgian striker. So as things stood for Chelsea, Real agreed to sell Alvaro Morata to the Blues.
Morata got off to a brilliant start, scoring on his Premier League debut – a 2-3 defeat against Burnley at home – but his goalscoring form has faded since then. The Spaniard’s last Premier League goal came against Brighton – a 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge – back on December 26. To add further to it, the striker has struggled to cope with the injuries in recent times and has picked up a back problem.
He has missed Chelsea’s last three Premier League fixtures, with his last appearance coming on January 17 when he was sent off in Chelsea’s FA Cup tie against Norwich after coming on as a substitute. Speaking ahead of Chelsea’s game against West Brom, Conte has mentioned that he is unsure as to when Morata will return. Conte sure has Olivier Giroud at his disposal, but the Frenchman was mainly bought as a cover for Morata.
Speaking of Morata’s recent struggles, his teammate Eden Hazard has mentioned that he is very happy with at the club and the fact that Chelsea have a lot of Spaniards helps him adapting to the environment.
“Yes, he’s very happy. He’s scoring, although he’s a bit injured and he can’t help the team. But we have a lot of Spaniards and it helps his adaptation. He’s a fantastic player and he will score a lot of goals for us, I’m sure.
“He can score with both feet and his head, it’s incredible.
Morata is sure to miss the West Brom game but Conte will be hoping he makes his return on time as we face Barcelona in the Champions League on February 20.