2 Real Madrid – Alvaro Morata
It was revelatory that when Los Blancos made the announcement that they were exercising the buyback clause for Alvaro Morata, the media’s reaction was to speculate about which club Real Madrid would sell Morata to. While £30 million is chump-change for Real Madrid, Karim Benzema is firmly ensconsed in the central striker position, which means Morata is set for sporadic appearances from the bench – not a situation that will please the youngster.
The 23-year-old is at the stage of his career where he needs to appear regularly, although since Zinedine Zidane is reportedly an admirer of the youngster’s qualities, Morata might be fine in accepting a secondary role at the club. However, consider the game time Borja Mayoral garnered last season – a paltry 283 minutes in 6 appeareances over the course of the season.
Morata has effectively replaced Mayoral as 2nd choice central striker and with Benzema afforded a rest from international duties due to his exclusion from the French squad, Madrid’s 1st choice striker might not suffer any injuries due to fatigue – which could further reduce Morata’s chances to play. Morata could find himself in the strange situation of being Spain’s first-choice striker who is barely able to play for his club.
