Chelsea's Alvaro Morata has revealed he could always be tempted with a move back to Real Madrid in the future, despite having moved away from the club less than a year ago.
The 25-year-old striker made the switch to Stamford Bridge in a £70.6m deal last summer, and despite having over four-years remaining on his contract the Spaniard is refusing to rule out the possibility of returning to the Bernabeu.
Morata has fallen on hard times at Chelsea in recent weeks after being hit by a back injury which has ruled him out of action since early January, and whilst the Blues struggle to recapture the form which saw them clinch the Premier League title last season Morata is keeping his future options open.
In an interview with Espacio Reservado (h/t the Daily Mail), Morata was asked if Madrid called to have him back would it be a straight forward decision, or would he have to think about it.
He replied: "I have to respect Chelsea who have made a great effort for me. And I’m very happy here. But Madrid is always Madrid."
Poor from #Morata while out injured and having failed to impress at #cfc for months that he would entertain return to Real Madrid.Asked by Spanish TV, he said: "I have to respect Chelsea who have made a great effort for me. And I’m very happy here. But Madrid is always Madrid."
— Simon Johnson (@sjstandardsport) February 9, 2018
Links with a move away will do little to calm the waters at Chelsea as they will be without their key striker in their bid to bounce back from consecutive league defeats when they face West Brom on Monday.
Morata - who has scored 12 goals this season - is expected to miss the first leg of Chelsea's last 16 clash against Barcelona in 10 days times, and Antonio Conte has admitted he is unable to put a definitive time stamp on his strikers absence from the side.
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In his press conference on Friday, Conte revealed: "He has this problem, we are trying to find a solution to solve the pain in his back.
"You ask me how long he is out, maybe he needs one day, one month, or is out for the season, I don’t know. I am a bit worried as we know the importance of the player."
(You may also be interested in Bundesliga Expert Claims Former Dortmund Boss 'Is Favourite to Replace Conte' at Chelsea)
- 90Min