Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata revealed he was close to a move to Roma in the summer of 2023 which ultimately didn’t pan out as he decided to stay in Spain instead.
In his interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Morata discussed his heated summer window of last year and the thought process that led him to extend his stay in Diego Simeone’s team.
“I was in a particular situation given that the contract with Atletico Madrid was expiring,” said Morata. “I renewed it by significantly changing my economic conditions due to issues of Financial Fair Play and the club’s wage bill, and also changing the conditions for a possible sale.”
“I received interest from Milan, then all the coaches called me, because I have good relationships with everyone. Allegri trained me. The same goes for Mourinho, who also gave me my debut in Madrid. Inzaghi called me as well.”
“I liked the idea of ​​going to Rome and Roma, to play with Paulo [Dybala] and in a club and in a city full of passion where football is experienced like in South America.”
“There were contractual difficulties with the Italian clubs, but a chat with Simeone changed everything,” he added.
