Morata regrets having been forced to return to Real Madrid from Juventus
Álvaro Morata doesn't miss his time at Real Madrid at all. The Spanish striker has opened a new chapter in his footballing career in the English Premier League by becoming a player of reference for his club Chelsea and having scored 7 goals in 12 games already this season. In an interview two days ago for the Italian sports newspaper, La Gazzetta Dello Sport, the Real Madrid academy alumni talks about many things but what sticks out is when wide eyed he relives the treatment he was given on his return to Real Madrid from Juventus two summers ago.
"There were contractual agreements that everyone was obliged to respect and that neither Juventus or I thought would be executed. The disappointment was massive: I found myself returning to the start of my footballing career in more ways than one. I walked back in through the door at Real Madrid and right from the word go I was again being treated like a youth player in exactly the same manner as before my two seasons in Series 'A' playing for Juventus. Not only did I feel personally disrespected, but I also felt that a legendary club like Juventus was being looked upon like a Spanish 'B' team somewhere in Spain's lower divisions."
"I arrived in Italy as a child and returned to Real Madrid a real footballer. Had I ever been given the choice, had they ever asked me that summer when they forced me to return from Juventus to Real Madrid, I'd have said no! I would never have left Italy and I would never have left Juventus. My wife who is Italian wants to live in Spain, but I who am Spanish, I want to live in Italy."
"I chose Chelsea because Antonio Conte was there. I had already been talking to Antonio during the season of my return to Real Madrid... Three or four times a week we would make each other phone calls and there were also three personal meetings during the season between us, one in Spain and two in Italy. He told me he would be telling the Chelsea board that he wanted me for this season and that I should stay strong because not everything a coach wants ends up coming to fruition. There were moments where I thought I was going to end up staying in my personal nightmare at Real Madrid because all the news coming from England was that Antonio Conte was finding it difficult to convince his board to make a serious bid for me. It was only when I read that Chelsea were apparently seriously going for Lukaku that I broke my promise to Conte in that I shouldn't get in contact with him until he called me and I made a FaceTime call which he accepted. He took the call knowing full well what I was going to ask him and why I'd called and he smiled telling me to sit tight and that neither I myself or him were going to be manipulated by anyone. That put me at ease and I finally breathed deep clean air for the first time in my footballing career with the knowledge that I was going to be a real footballer for a big club and a great manager with no contract agreements to be afraid of. Few people can really understand how great a coach is Antonio Conte, but that will be a story for many years to come, not now."
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