Confirmed: Mourinho Made Transfer Approach For Record Signing Of PL Rivals Chelsea
REUTERS/Andrew Yates
Alvaro Morata was a wanted man in the transfer market before Chelsea signed him. It’s no secret that Jose Mourinho was interested in signing the striker from Real Madrid, but Manchester United failed to agree a fee with the Spanish clubs.
As a result, Mourinho shifted his focus from Morata to Romelu Lukaku, and signed the Belgian striker from Everton. After United’s withdrawal from the pursuit of Morata, Chelsea ended up signing the Spaniard.
And now, Morata himself has confirmed the rumors of Manchester United being interested in him during the transfer window.
While talking to Daily Mail, Morata said: “I had various offers this summer, not only Chelsea and Manchester United. but also from different leagues. It was a good situation for me.”
The former Real Madrid attacker then highlighted why he signed for Chelsea.
Reuters/Tony O’Brien
He said: “The most important and best conversation I had was with Conte, he wanted me to come here. At the start of the summer, I didn’t know that Chelsea were interested in me. I thought they were in for a different player, maybe Lukaku or maybe someone else, I don’t know. I didn’t think the option of Chelsea was open.”
Morata also revealed how Conte played an important role in bringing him to Stamford Bridge.
“I spoke with Conte several times – and not only this summer. I felt in debt to him. He signed me for Juventus but left very quickly to manage Italy. I always wanted to play for him after that. It was only two months with him but it felt like I’d known him forever. When I knew he wanted me this summer, I didn’t think twice,” he admitted.
Written by Shorya Panwar 
Has 20+ years of experience managing Schalke in Football Manager 2017. Believes wing-backs are the most complete footballers in the modern/evolved football. Writes weird stuff on his personal blog.