Would Not Have Left Juventus for Real Madrid If I Had A Choice, Says Morata

Spain’s Alvaro Morata opened up about his move away from Italian champions Juventus, saying he would never have left Turin if it was up to him.

Morata, now plying his trade with English champions Chelsea in London regretted having left Italy, and says he was forced to return to Madrid in 2016 due to a buy back clause in his contract.

The 25-year-old forward spent only two seasons with the Old Lady, but the deal which saw him move to Turin from Madrid for €22 million in 2014 included a clause which allowed Los Blancos to sign him back for a fixed sum.

Knowing full well that the move back to Madrid was based only on business principles, Morata told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he would still be a Juventus player if the choice were his.

"There were contractual agreements to respect, but the disappointment was enormous -- I found myself right back where I had started," Morata said. "They treated me like the lad that I was before my two years in Italy.

"My two years at Juve were fantastic. I was just a lad when I arrived and I was a real footballer when I left. For a Spaniard, Italy is the best place to live. You've got all the beauty, history, art, good food and fashion. I would never have left Italy and Juve."

Morata who admittedly was not happy at the Santiago Bernabeu and found game time hard to get found the back of the net 15 times in 26 appearances for Real, winning La Liga and the Champions League with the Spanish giants before joining Chelsea.

"I came here because they have a coach like Antonio Conte," he said. "We started to talk about me possibly coming here last spring and, in the end, I actually came to London. There were a series of situations that were favourable, starting with the coach -- I knew Conte and I had no problems fitting into his ideas of football.

"Conte is demanding, but he gets the best out of his players' strengths. You can tell that he knows what it is like to be at a big club, first as a player, then as a coach."

The Spaniard has 6 Premier League goals to his name from 9 games, and has opened his account in Europe when he scored against Atletico Madrid in the 2-1 win.

After being out of action due to injury recently, Morata will be hoping to get back to his free scoring ways this week when Chelsea travel to face AS Roma on Tuesday.

"Roma have impressed me and they would have deserved to have beaten us in London," Morata said. "We got away with it. But we start from scratch again this time and, after our three wins in a row, I think that Chelsea will be more motivated.

"Roma created us problems in London and I'd say they have an edge over Atletico."

Edin Dzeko scored twice in the 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge and Morata paid tribute to the former Manchester City forward, who has failed to hit the target in his past four Serie A outings, after netting seven in his previous five.

"He was extraordinary," Morata said. "His first goal was a masterpiece. I've always liked Dzeko -- he's a champion."