Alvaro Morata clarifies London comments and insists he would sign '10 year' contract at Chelsea

Morata said in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport that he did not see himself in London for long

Morata said the interview was a misunderstanding (Getty)

Alvaro Morata says he has no plans to leave Chelsea during his playing career, saying he would stay for 10 years, and put controversy over comments in a Gazzetta dello Sport interview that he finds London “too stressful” down to “a problem of understanding”.

The 25-year-old striker had spoken gushingly about his time in Italy with Juventus between 2014 and 2016, and said it was nearly the perfect country for a Spanish person to live, adding that “I do not see myself living here [in London] for very long”.

Put up for Chelsea’s press conference ahead of the Champions League match away to Roma on Tuesday, Morata sought to clarify those comments, saying he was referring to when his playing career finishes and that he is very happy at Stamford Bridge. He maintained his only problem is with the traffic.

“In the interview... I want to say, probably in the future when I finish in my career, I won't live in London,” Morata said. “But now, at the moment, I'm very happy in London and enjoy living in London with my wife.”

“No, no. I really like London now. But probably, in the future, when I need to bring my child to the school and take up a school, when I finish my career, I'd prefer to come back to my country. It's normal. For me, I prefer the place I was born. But now I'm very happy. When I say it's a special city, I'm only talking about the traffic and that there are a lot of people. But it's an incredible city with many religions and many kinds of different people, so I really enjoy London.

“I want to say again that we had a problem of understanding in this interview. 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. It's normal.”

Morata insisted he enjoys London (Getty)

Asked about his relationship with manager Antonio Conte, Morata described him as one of the best managers in the world.

“The relationship is very good. I'm improving a lot with Antonio. He loves us to work hard, and me too. I think, in the tactical sense, he's one of the best coaches in the world and I'm very happy to work with Antonio. Every day I improve a little bit, and that's good for my future and my present.”

Conte himself meanwhile praised his striker, saying he feels Morata is enjoying his time with Chelsea, referring to how he lived in the same building in his first season in London last year.

“I must be honest with you: I didn't read his interview today, but Steve [Atkins, the director of corporate and media and public relations] has told me about this interview.

“I think Alvaro is a good person and is enjoying his time in London, enjoying playing with Chelsea, a great team. And I know very well where he's living now with his wife. It was the same building that I lived in last season. A lovely place, and not so far from the training ground. But I'm sure about this also because every time I have spoken with him, he has told me he's very happy, happy for this fantastic experience for him, for his wife.

“Personally, you know very well that last season I was alone without my family. When you stay abroad to work, and above all you work with a lot of pressure, it's good to have your family with you. This season, for example, I solved this problem because my family stay with me and we're enjoying our time in Cobham, living in Cobham. We are enjoying London, enjoying this league. It's a fantastic experience for me, for Alvaro, for every single player who decides to have this fantastic experience in a really tough league. Above all living in London.”