Why Alvaro Morata's impatience has come back to haunt him

The final list for the Spanish national squad for this summer’s World Cup was announced on Monday. While the look of Julen Lopetegui’s squad is quite solid, there are a few notable absentees.

The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Hector Bellerin, Javi Martinez, Marcos Alonso, and Alvaro Morata have all missed out on the plane to Russia. The one name that stands out from that list is arguably that of Alvaro Morata.

The Chelsea forward was a topic of much debate during last summer’s transfer period. He was eventually signed by Chelsea for a fee of around £60 million, a fee that saw him become the most expensive Real Madrid export of all time.

Life at Chelsea began well for the Spanish marksman. Scoring and assisting on his league debut against Burnley at Stamford Bridge. Morata went on to add to his goal tally against the likes of Everton, Leicester, Stoke, and Atletico Madrid. The performance against Stoke was perhaps the pinnacle of Morata’s season, where he scored a hat-trick at the bet365 Stadium.

Morata had a good start to life at Chelsea

It was, however, all downhill from there on. An injury in the game against Manchester City ended up being the Spaniard's Achilles heel, derailing pretty much his entire campaign and putting Morata in what could be termed as an inexplicable situation.

Morata lost his form in the process, so much so that the record signing was only a back-up to January arrival, Olivier Giroud even when fit.

A year on and Alvaro Morata’s decision to leave Real Madrid just one season after making his return to the Spanish capital looks to have gone terribly wrong. Signed from Juventus on a buy-back clause in the summer of 2016, Morata was not the regular starter he expected himself to be on his second homecoming at Real Madrid.

The young marksman did, however, feature a considerable amount of times in Real’s charge towards a historic double. Morata’s complaints against Real were more regarding his non-participation in the big games.

He did not feature in the league games involving Atletico, Barcelona, or any of the big knockout Champions League games, prompting the striker to make a switch to a club where he might flourish as the number one striking choice. It would also boost his chances with the Spanish national side.

Morata with Lucas Vasquez and Marco Asensio in Madrid, both of whom have made the Spanish squad for the World Cup

As it stands, the transfer has professionally yielded pretty much nothing in the first season for Morata. If anything, it has put him a step or two back from a year ago at this very stage of the season.

Could this eagerness to move shed some light on the striker’s nature and personality? Is he too impatient to find success? Well, finding a starting spot in a place like Real Madrid could be a tough task but is one season enough to judge one on that basis?

Lucas Vazquez and Marco Asensio were on similar lines to Morata last season, being part of Real Madrid's second-string setup. Both of them weren’t regular starters either but stayed on and worked their way into the Real fold.

The result being, both of them stayed at the club, kept fit, made the most of their minutes and are now on that plane to Russia.

It’s been a torrid year for the boy from Real Madrid Castilla and his decisions have so far shown a footballer’s impatience, impatience that has clearly hurt his year. If reports and rumours are to be believed, the Spanish striker might be on the move away from the west London club in the summer.

Something that wouldn’t be a surprise given how fervently the striker has reacted to adverse situations. All in all, given how everything’s turned up for Morata, one could not be blamed for believing that most of it has been the Spaniard's own doing - a sad and difficult situation for a promising modern-day number nine to say the least.