How Morata cost Chelsea £1m per week he spent at the club
Cameron Smith
- 8 Feb 2022 21:30 GMT
- 3 min read
Alvaro Morata has an impressive CV when it comes to his list of former clubs.
Real Madrid, Chelsea, Atletico Madrid and Juventus have all employed the Spaniard's services over the years, yet he's never fully convinced wherever he's been.
His goal-scoring record is far from woeful, it's in fact respectable, but he's never managed to justify the price tags that he's cost throughout his career.
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A talent at Real Madrid, and a blossoming star at Juventus before joining Chelsea, Morata arrived with high expectations. The last big-name striker the Blues signed from Madrid, in Diego Costa, worked out well, and similar feats were expected from Morata.
He started well, scoring twice off the bench against Burnley on his debut, and his relationship with Cesar Azpilicueta was a thriving one. However, his inability to score big chances began to anger Chelsea fans, and he was soon cast aside.
His 24 goals in 77 games may not sound too bad, especially given how Chelsea's forwards since Morata's departure have fared, but the Spaniard cost the Blues a lot of money.
An unorthodox striker to say the least, Morata threatened to break into the elite category of number nine's across the world, but his lack of consistency was a large contributing factor to his eventual departure from Stamford Bridge.
What was Alvaro Morata's overall cost to Chelsea?
Not only did Morata cost a club record transfer fee upon arriving at Chelsea (£60 million), but his wages were also astronomical for someone who wasn't a reliable goal-scorer. Eden Hazard was the only player at the club on higher wages than Morata's £170,000 per week, with Cesc Fabregas the next highest on £156,000.
Morata was only at Chelsea for 18 months before they loaned him to Atletico Madrid, before selling him permanently to the Spanish side, but he still racked up £13.3m in wages during that time. It was only Atleti's desperation for a forward that enabled Chelsea to get away with the poor financial situation surrounding Morata at the club.
In total, Morata's wages and transfer fee add up to £73.3m - a lot of money for just 18 months. That works out at £4m per month, or around £1m per week.
Morata also cost Chelsea over £3m per goal he scored for the club.
Gonzalo Higuain was signed as his replacement, which was another move for a forward that didn't work out for Chelsea.
