Alvaro Morata has brushed off lingering transfer rumours to confirm he is staying at Chelsea.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus striker has been continually linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge after an unconvincing first season in the Premier League.
He netted just one top-flight goal after the turn of the year and was subsequently left out of Spain’s World Cup squad.
Gonzalo Higuain, who joined AC Milan on Thursday, revealed Maurizio Sarri was keen on taking him to Chelsea, but Morata’s prominent role in pre-season suggests he still has a part to play.
“They told me: ‘We have a lot of confidence in you and we want you to stay too.’ So everything was perfect.
“All the people said I wanted to leave, that I was not happy in London, but it’s not true. Now I have taken another house, a bigger one, near to Cobham.
Chelsea meet champions City in the Community Shield at Wembley before their league campaign commences with a trip to Huddersfield Town next weekend.
Born in Madrid, Morata signed for Real Madrid in 2008 from neighbouring Getafe CF after starting out at Atlético Madrid, finishing his formation two years later but starting appearing for Real Madrid C still as a junior. In July 2010, after a successful season with the Juvenil A team where he won two youth titles and scored 34 goals, he was promoted to Real Madrid Castilla; later that month, first-team coach José Mourinho took the player alongside four teammates to a preseason tour in the United States.
On 19 July 2017, Chelsea announced that they had agreed terms with Real Madrid for the transfer of Morata, for a reported club-record fee of around £60 million. The former club stated the move was subject to a medical being passed and personal terms being agreed, and the latter subsequently released a statement thanking the player for his ‘dedication, professionalism and exemplary conduct’ during his time there. On 21 July, he successfully passed his medical and officially became a Chelsea player.
Morata made his competitive debut in the 2017 FA Community Shield match against Arsenal, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute as his team lost the match on penalties after drawing 1–1 in normal time, with the player missing in the shoot-out.
On 12 August 2017, he scored and provided an assist for David Luiz in his first appearance in the Premier League, a 2–3 defeat at home to Burnley – his goal was a header in the 69th minute of the game to cut the deficit to 3–1.