Chelsea allowed Alvaro Morata to join Atletico Madrid on an 18-month loan deal in the winter market.
The striker, who has previously played for Real Madrid, joined Los Blancos’ derby rivals on a temporary deal, but before his time with the Champions League winners, he spent two years at Atletico’s academy between 2005 and 2007.
Having struggled for minutes with the 13-time European champions, they allowed the Spain international to join Juventus in 2014, before re-signing him two years later.
The Serie A winners will face Atletico in the Champions League and Morata gave an interview to Spanish newspaper AS, where he revealed that he promised to join the La Liga outfit more than three years ago.
“If I tell the truth, three and a half years ago it was the first contact. I gave him the word that as soon as I could, I would come,” the 26-year-old explained.
“It was not possible before. It did not depend on me. I gave him my word.”
Last September, Morata told Cadena SER that Antonio Conte’s tactics didn’t suit him at Chelsea and blamed the former Juventus manager’s style for his struggles in his debut season at Stamford Bridge.
The Spain international has now told AS that Simeone’s playing style suits him. He said, “It is the perfect team for me. I like to run, defend, work…”
