Morata is the Mbappe that Zidane can call upon

Posted Friday, July 14, 2017 by Marca.com

The future of Alvaro Morata is in white, unlike that of Kylian Mbappe, who looks destined to remain at Monaco for at least one more year, despite Real Madrid's best efforts.

Morata, despite wanting to leave, has always been aware that nowhere he could go would be as illustrious as Real Madrid, but the Spaniard was desperately seeking more regular first-team football for next season.

Zinedine Zidane, however, was always reluctant to let him go and he made his feelings clear to both the player himself and to club president Florentino Perez, so it was decided that unless an offer of 90 million euros was received, he would not leave.

From the outset Manchester United were favourites to sign Morata, but the strained relationship between the two clubs made a deal difficult to reach, before the Old Trafford side eventually opted for Romelu Lukaku instead.

Next in line appeared to be Chelsea, with Antonio Conte a huge admirer of Morata's, but the Londoners have now turned their attentions to Borussia Dortmund's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Morata's options, as such, are almost non-existent now and Zidane appears to have gotten exactly what he wanted all along.

As much as Morata is frustrated that he could not get his move, his attitude is, as ever, positive and he is determined to prove his worth to Real Madrid and to Spain ahead of next summer's World Cup in Russia.

The situation now in Madrid is the one that their coach wanted from the very beginning - to keep hold of the squad that won him the Champions League.