Álvaro Morata has reaffirmed his commitment to Chelsea and insisted he is happy at the club after appearing to suggest in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport that he pines for Italy and finds life in London "too much stress".
The Spain forward has denied the fact that he dislikes living in London, saying he would "probably" sign a 10-year deal at Chelsea if he could. The striker had told La Gazzetta dello Sports he did not see himself living in London "for very long".
Also read: Mamata thanks FIFA for U-17 World Cup final, record number attend Kolkata venues (Roundup)
Morata spent two seasons at Juventus, before signing a five-year contract at Stamford Bridge in the summer after joining for a club record initial fee of £58m from Real Madrid.
The striker scored seven goals in his first seven games for Antonio Conte's side only for a thigh injury, sustained against Manchester City, to disrupt his rhythm. His last goal came in the win at Atlético Madrid more than a month ago. "I want to say again that we had a problem of understanding in this interview," said Morata, according to the Guardian.
Asked about the quotes before Tuesday's Champions League game at Roma, he clarified he meant he will not remain in London when he retires.
"When I finish my career, I prefer to come back to my country. I prefer the place where I was born, that's normal. When I say London is a stressful city, I'm talking about the traffic and a lot of people. It's an incredible city." Morata said, according to the BBC.
"If Chelsea proposed me 10 years I'd probably sign that too. I'm happy with this club, in this city, with everything in London. I really like London and probably, if I make good and improve, probably I can stay here more than five years. But I need to score many goals otherwise Chelsea will buy another player.
"We have a communication problem with this interview. I wanted to say, probably in the future when I finish in my career, I won't live in London. But now, at the moment, I'm very happy in London and enjoy living in London with my wife. You have everything: beauty, history, art, cooking, fashion. I would never have left Italy and Juve. My wife would like to live in Spain, I in Italy. Here, too, we can find a compromise," Morata added.
