Álvaro Morata

Some Lesser Known Facts About Alvaro Morata

• Alvaro Morata liked playing football since childhood. His grandparents bought him a football when he was 3 years old, and he would always carry the ball with him, even to his school.

  

• At the age of five, he gave trials to join Atletico Madrid Academy and was selected but his mother told him to go to school regularly for one more year.

• When he was 6 years old, he started training at Atlético Madrid where he played for age-group teams till the age of ten.

  

• Morata moved to Getafe when he was 10 years old. He started training at Real Madrid Youth Academy at the age of fourteen in 2008.

  

• He started playing for Real Madrid C in the third division of the Spanish league in 2009. He later played for Real Madrid Juvenil (the under-19 team of Real Madrid).

  

• He represented Spain in the 2009 Under-17 World Cup held in Nigeria. He helped his team win the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Romania.

  

• He played for Real Madrid Castilla (the reserve team of Real Madrid) in the 2009-2010 season. On 13 February 2011, he scored the first hat-trick of his career, helping his team defeat Deportivo Fabril by 7–1.

• On 12 December 2010, he made his debut for the Spanish club ‘Real Madrid’ in La Liga under the guidance of Jose Mourinho. He played in the final of the 2014 UEFA Champions League which Real Madrid won.

  

• He hit 4 goals in 5 matches to help Spain win the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship held in Israel.

• He is a generous person. In March 2014, he shaved off his hair in solidarity with sick children, saying ‘kids with cancer wanted to have my haircut but they couldn’t, so I gave myself theirs.’

  

• In July 2014, he joined the Italian club ‘Juventus’ on a 5-year agreement with a fee of €20 million. The contract also had a clause with an option for Real Madrid to buy him back.

  

• On 27 March 2015, he scored his first international goal against Ukraine.

• Morata made his Serie A debut for Juventus on 13 September 2014 against Udinese.

• On 10 December 2015, he extended his contract with Juventus till 2020.

• On 21 May 2016, he scored a goal in the final of the 2016 Coppa Italia against AC Milan, helping Juventus win the tournament.

  

• On 21 June 2016, Real Madrid acquired him for €30 million using the buy-back clause in Morata’s contract with Juventus. He later helped the team win the 2016-2017 La Liga and 2017 UEFA Champions League.

  

• In 2016, he met an Italian model named Alice Campello. He first sent her a message on Instagram, after which they started talking and developed a close friendship.

  

• He impressed her by driving for 8 hours to meet his family, just 2 weeks after their first date. They later got engaged in December 2016.

  

• In July 2017, he signed up with the English club ‘Chelsea’ for a club-record fee of £60 million.

  

• On 23 September 2017, he became the 17th Chelsea footballer to score a hat trick in the Premier League in a match against Stoke City.

• On 27 January 2019, Chelsea transferred him to Atlético Madrid for 18 months on a loan deal. On 1 October 2019, he played his 300th club game, a 2-0 win against Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow.

  

• In June 2019, while he was on a tour to play for Spain in a Euro 2020 qualifier match, his London house was robbed by armed robbers who took away jewellery and watches. His wife and children were at home but did not suffer any harm or injury.

• In 2019, he launched the Alvaro Morata Foundation to fund education for underprivileged children through golf competitions and other programs.

  

• Morata later played for Spain in many international tournaments including UEFA Euro 2020.

• On 1 July 2020, after the loan period, he joined Atletico Madrid with a fee of £58 million.

• In September 2020, Juventus acquired him for €10 million on a one-year loan, with an option for purchase at €45 million. His contract also had a clause that Juventus could retain him for one more year with the purchase value of €35 million.

  

• On 20 January 2021, he scored a goal in the final of the Supercoppa Italiana, helping his team defeat Napoli with a score of 2-0.

• In 2021, he revealed that he and his family had received death threats and had been victims of social media abuse after Spain lost in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament. He claimed that some people also shouted at his wife and children in Sevilla.

• On 15 June 2021, Juventus extended his loan till 30 June 2022.

• Morata returned to Atletico Madrid in July 2022. He made a personal record in the 2023-2024 La Liga season by scoring 15 goals in the league.

  

• He scored a goal in every group stage match of Spain in the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar. Spain was later eliminated in the quarterfinal of the tournament.

  

• In March 2023, Spanish head coach Luis de la Fuente appointed him as captain of Spain for the qualifying matches of Euro 2024.

  

• On 18 June 2023, he led the Spanish national team to win its first-ever Nations League Finals Trophy win which was held in the Netherlands. On 8 September 2023, he scored his first international hat-trick against Georgia in a 7–1 win.

  

• Morata owns many businesses including a bakery chain named Manolo Homes. He has also invested in several companies.

• During his teenage years, when he was playing football, he once thought of leaving football and becoming a professional tennis player.

• During his initial years as a footballer, Morata’s playing style included pace, energy, physicality, and work-rate; however, he has been criticised for missing several goal-scoring chances when he played for Chelsea.

• He has a very close relationship with his father who also works with his agent, Juanma Lopez, in his contract negotiations.

  

• Many jokes have been made about Morata for his frequent transfers with some people claiming that he is being used in a money laundering scheme.

• He works with a former Barcelona youth player ‘Adria Carmona’ on the mental aspect of the game. Carmona often helps him to visualise everything that could happen in a football match.

  

• He has a museum in his house where he keeps his football shoes, jerseys, and other items he has collected from different players of club teams and the national team of Spain.

• He is a dog lover and has a pet dog.

  

• He likes to drink wine during parties and celebrations.