Chelsea star Alvaro Morata has struggled to find the back of the net in recent weeks… is he really good enough for the Premier League?


Spanish striker has scored just four Prem goals since late September and struggled mightily in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal

Just ask Mateja Kezman or Fernando Torres, both signed with great expectations only to flop horribly at Stamford Bridge.

So when Alvaro Morata joined the Blues from Real Madrid for £60million it was a sign of the Spaniard’s confidence that he took the No9 jersey last worn by the disastrous Radamel Falcao during the 2015/16 campaign.
Speaking after his arrival, the Spaniard said: “That was one of the first things I was told after turning up here.
“Even the lads were begging me not to take that shirt because it was cursed, but I wanted it.”




A return of seven goals in his first seven games for the Blues in all competitions ensured Morata put any ideas of a curse to bed.
But just four Premier League goals since late September is concerning, as was the way Morata squandered three gilt-edged chances in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Wednesday.

So has the striker got the killer instinct required to be world class? We put that question to our friends at Football's Whisper…
The summer’s Premier League transfer merry-go-round was dominated by which strikers would end up where.
Long-term Chelsea transfer target Romelu Lukaku was set to return to Stamford Bridge but eventually joined Manchester United, leaving the champions to swoop for Real Madrid star Morata.
At £60m the 25-year-old was £15m cheaper than Lukaku and came with the pedigree of reaching three Champions League finals, winning two.
In his second stint at the Bernabeu, Morata bagged an incredible 15 La Liga goals from just 14 starts at Zinedine Zidane’s men clinched the title.
Impressively, he averaged a goal every 88.66 minutes for Los Blancos.
But with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema – a favourite of president Florentino Perez – ahead of him, his chances were limited.
It had been a similar story at Juventus, the club he left Real for the first time in 2014 as he sought to strike out and prove he could be the main man for one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
With Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente, Mario Mandzukic, Simone Zaza and Paulo Dybala for competition in his two seasons in Turin, Morata was left on the bench more often than he had hoped.
Despite finding himself limited to a bit-part role, the Spanish international still bagged a goal every 184 minutes in Serie A and the Champions League, steering Juve to the 2015 Champions League final and scoring as they were beaten by Barcelona in Berlin.
His pedigree was clear. If he could be this prolific coming off the bench and getting occasional starts for Juventus and Real, surely he could establish himself as one of Europe’s top marksmen at Stamford Bridge?



Real coach Zinedine Zidane recognised the forward’s ability and fought hard to keep Morata in the Spanish capital. But to no avail, his mind was made up.
“We saw what Morata did last season, he played very well and offered us a lot,” Zidane admitted in pre-season.
Morata hit the ground running in England and his seven goals in seven games included a crucial equaliser in the dramatic last-gasp win at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
His stunning hat-trick in the 4-0 demolition of Stoke City rightly drew plenty of plaudits – not least from Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry – and demonstrated the forward’s full range of finishing.
But strikers are judged on goals. And since clinching a treble at the Potteries in September, Morata has bagged just four in the Premier League.
Normally the back-up striker would have taken his place at some point in that run. But Chelsea coach Antonio Conte does not trust Michy Batshuayi to lead the line from the start.
That was evident last season when a high-profile falling out with Diego Costa failed to dislodge the combustible forward for more than a couple of weeks in January before he was restored to the starting XI.
And this season Batshuayi has again failed to take his chances, meaning Morata has been left in the firing line regardless of his form.
He has already played 1,432 minutes in the Premier League, more than he managed in the whole of last season at Real.
And Morata will soon surpass the 1,455 Serie A minutes he got during the 2015/16 campaign at Juventus, his most prolific season to date.



Chelsea star Alvaro Morata has struggled to find the back of the net in recent weeks… is he really good enough for the Premier League?


Spanish striker has scored just four Prem goals since late September and struggled mightily in the 2-2 draw with Arsenal

Just ask Mateja Kezman or Fernando Torres, both signed with great expectations only to flop horribly at Stamford Bridge.

So when Alvaro Morata joined the Blues from Real Madrid for £60million it was a sign of the Spaniard’s confidence that he took the No9 jersey last worn by the disastrous Radamel Falcao during the 2015/16 campaign.
Speaking after his arrival, the Spaniard said: “That was one of the first things I was told after turning up here.
“Even the lads were begging me not to take that shirt because it was cursed, but I wanted it.”




A return of seven goals in his first seven games for the Blues in all competitions ensured Morata put any ideas of a curse to bed.
But just four Premier League goals since late September is concerning, as was the way Morata squandered three gilt-edged chances in Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with Arsenal on Wednesday.

So has the striker got the killer instinct required to be world class? We put that question to our friends at Football's Whisper…
The summer’s Premier League transfer merry-go-round was dominated by which strikers would end up where.
Long-term Chelsea transfer target Romelu Lukaku was set to return to Stamford Bridge but eventually joined Manchester United, leaving the champions to swoop for Real Madrid star Morata.
At £60m the 25-year-old was £15m cheaper than Lukaku and came with the pedigree of reaching three Champions League finals, winning two.
In his second stint at the Bernabeu, Morata bagged an incredible 15 La Liga goals from just 14 starts at Zinedine Zidane’s men clinched the title.
Impressively, he averaged a goal every 88.66 minutes for Los Blancos.
But with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema – a favourite of president Florentino Perez – ahead of him, his chances were limited.
It had been a similar story at Juventus, the club he left Real for the first time in 2014 as he sought to strike out and prove he could be the main man for one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
With Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente, Mario Mandzukic, Simone Zaza and Paulo Dybala for competition in his two seasons in Turin, Morata was left on the bench more often than he had hoped.
Despite finding himself limited to a bit-part role, the Spanish international still bagged a goal every 184 minutes in Serie A and the Champions League, steering Juve to the 2015 Champions League final and scoring as they were beaten by Barcelona in Berlin.
His pedigree was clear. If he could be this prolific coming off the bench and getting occasional starts for Juventus and Real, surely he could establish himself as one of Europe’s top marksmen at Stamford Bridge?



Real coach Zinedine Zidane recognised the forward’s ability and fought hard to keep Morata in the Spanish capital. But to no avail, his mind was made up.
“We saw what Morata did last season, he played very well and offered us a lot,” Zidane admitted in pre-season.
Morata hit the ground running in England and his seven goals in seven games included a crucial equaliser in the dramatic last-gasp win at Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
His stunning hat-trick in the 4-0 demolition of Stoke City rightly drew plenty of plaudits – not least from Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry – and demonstrated the forward’s full range of finishing.
But strikers are judged on goals. And since clinching a treble at the Potteries in September, Morata has bagged just four in the Premier League.
Normally the back-up striker would have taken his place at some point in that run. But Chelsea coach Antonio Conte does not trust Michy Batshuayi to lead the line from the start.
That was evident last season when a high-profile falling out with Diego Costa failed to dislodge the combustible forward for more than a couple of weeks in January before he was restored to the starting XI.
And this season Batshuayi has again failed to take his chances, meaning Morata has been left in the firing line regardless of his form.
He has already played 1,432 minutes in the Premier League, more than he managed in the whole of last season at Real.
And Morata will soon surpass the 1,455 Serie A minutes he got during the 2015/16 campaign at Juventus, his most prolific season to date.