Álvaro Morata spent 18 months at Chelsea after arriving at Stamford Bridge for a club-record fee from Real Madrid in 2017.
The striker scored 16 goals in the league for the Blues, out of which nine came in his first six months at the west London club. He struggled in his final 12 months with the Blues and left for Atlético Madrid on a loan deal in January.
Earlier in the summer, Los Rojiblancos agreed a deal with the Europa League winners to make the Spain international’s transfer permanent after this campaign.
The 27-year-old has managed seven goals in 13 appearances for the Madrid club and while speaking to El Partidazo of COPE, he explained he’s started to enjoy football again after a tough spell at Chelsea.
“At Atleti I am happy. I had stopped enjoying football and now I am happy. The people who work in the club, my teammates… because I didn’t believe in myself,” Morata said.
“In England I had the feeling that when I missed [a chance], my teammates looked at me and their feeling was that I was not going to do anything good.”
The player stressed the Premier League side wanted to retain him even though he had several offers to leave Chelsea earlier this year.
“I wish I could have matured before with 20-22 years, but I had never faced such a borderline situation,” he stressed.
“I was telling my wife to go as far as possible in January because I couldn’t deal with that pressure… the Atleti thing appeared. I had six or seven important offers, and Chelsea wanted me to stay.”
Morata is enjoying life at Atlético and has set his sights on finishing his career with them.
“I have never been able to be in a place for many years. I’ve been in the best teams but I’ve never had continuity,” the Spaniard explained.
“When I was at Juventus, I knew in the middle of the season that they [Real Madrid] were going to buy me back, and things like that distract you. Now it depends on me and if I give my best, I will be here for many years. I would love to retire at the Atleti. I have five or six good years left.”
