Alvaro Morata says he regrets playing for Real Madrid. I guess he hates winning
By Ben Sundock
On Sunday, Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata said he regretted leaving Atleti’s youth academy and playing for Real Madrid and Chelsea. I guess he doesn’t like winning very much.
The game of football is funny in the way it rewards some players and not others.
Think about all the greats who never won a league title in Europe. Better yet, think of some of the legends who never won a Champions League. Players like David Beckham or Gigi Buffon have not been lucky enough to lift that giant trophy despite illustrious careers spanning decades.
But some, like the man receiving lots of hate from Real Madrid fans at the moment, has won multiple UCL titles and multiple league titles as well. That man is Alvaro Morata.
The striker has been a bit of a journeyman over the course of his career. He started with Atleti’s youth academy, left for Getafe’s, and spent just a year there before joining Real Madrid’s prestigious youth development program in 2008. After dazzling with Real Madrid’s Castilla team when he was 19, the striker was promoted to the first team to serve as a depth player.
Unhappy with the number of minutes he was receiving, Alvaro was sold to Juventus with a buy-back clause attached.
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In two seasons with The Old Lady, Morata seemed to hit his stride making 92 appearances where he scored 27 goals and provided 15 assists. So, Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was emphatic in wanting to bring the Spaniard back to the Santiago Bernabéu.
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It was in June 2016 when Los Blancos exercised the clause and spent €30 million to bring Alvaro Morata back to the capital. As I’m sure many of you remember, during the 2016/2017, Real Madrid won the La Liga title and the Champions League thanks in large part to the incredible depth Zizou had on his bench.
Morata, Mariano Diaz, and Mateo Kovacic are just a few of the players who made that season such a special one and had they not been there, the league title could’ve slipped away. Morata started 18 matches across three competitions that season and built on what he had done with Juventus scoring 19 goals.
But after the season, the striker again complained about the number of minutes he was given. He pushed for a transfer and was sent to Chelsea just 13 months after returning to Real Madrid. The Blues spent about £60 million on Morata and president Florentino Perez was happy to take the profit from the deal and move on. Alvaro stayed in London for only a season and a half and struggled to produce under the immense pressure that accompanied the price the club had splashed out for him and criticism from the fans.
Morata was not poor while with Chelsea, but he was itching for a return to Madrid. Not to Real Madrid, however. Instead, he wanted to return to his boyhood club, Atletico de Madrid.
Chelsea agreed by loaning him to Atelti for 18-months in January of 2019. Six months after returning to Los Rojiblancos, the deal was made permanent and Morata would stay in Spain.
Now that we have gone through the full history of this fascinatingly average player, let’s discuss the comments he made on Sunday about the time he spent with Real Madrid and Chelsea.
During an Instagram Live call with tennis player Fabio Fognini, he said the following:
"“Unfortunately, I had to play for other clubs [Real Madrid and Chelsea] and not with Atletico, but I always wanted to. What I have lived stays, but now I am happier than ever.”“I thought about leaving [Atletico]. Then I spent a year at Getafe and, you know what, it was an amazing year. Then I went to Real Madrid, but my dad and I used to go to the Vicente Calderon and I dreamed of playing there.”"
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So, while winning trophies and gaining international praise with Real, Alvaro Morata was dreaming of playing for a second-tier club that has lived in the shadow of Los Blancos forever.
In five seasons with Real Madrid and two seasons with Juventus, Morata won four league titles. In 116 years of existence, Atletico Madrid has won 10 league titles total and two in the last 50 years or so!
It is interesting to note that the Spanish striker made no mention of Juve when talking on Instagram but took the time to lash out at two clubs he had spent a large portion of his career with.
It sure seems to me like individual success, compensation, and recognition matter a whole lot more to this guy then club success. Then again, despite making 12 more starts with Atelti since returning, he has scored 12 fewer goals than when he was with Real Madrid, so, maybe I’m wrong.