Atletico Madrid forward Alvaro Morata has admitted that he was close to joining Inter this summer, before a conversation with manager Diego Simeone and talking with coach Gustavo Lopez changed his mind.
Morata is enjoying by far his best season in Spain so far, and has 14 goals and 3 assists in his 23 appearances thus far. Forming a lethal partnership with Antoine Griezmann, Diego Simeone has trusted Morata much more than in previous seasons too.
Perenially linked with a return to Serie A, Morata did say to Diario AS he was close to joining Inter though.
“I have a very good relationship with the coach and also with the sports director. Marotta signed me for Juventus and we have always had a great relationship. Yes, it is true that they were close. Luckily I had quite a few options, but when I spoke with the coach and Gustavo, the best decision was to stay at Atletico.”
“It was a face-to-face talk, in which we said many things, shared many opinions and I decided that it was best to continue. I have always admired him as a coach from the outside and it is a pleasure to work with him now inside. I’ve always said it. On other occasions when I hadn’t felt that way, the best thing for me and also for the club was my departure to look for other things. But this summer everything was done for me to stay.”
Asked for specifics, Morata said there was no one thing that Simeone told him, rather it was general impression.
“It’s not that I was missing something, they were feelings and things that he asked me about in a normal conversation. Hopefully one day we can win a title together and recreate that conversation.”
While there is no way of knowing how things would have played out without Morata, or whom might have been brought in, it looks like an excellent move from Simeone. Particularly when considering Memphis Depay’s injury issues – the Dutchman ended last season as arguably the first-choice when fit, but has been on the sidelines for much of this season.
