Álvaro Morata

Álvaro Borja Morata Martín (born 23 October 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and captains the Spain national team.

Morata signed for Real Madrid in 2008 from neighbouring Getafe after starting out at Atlético Madrid, and appeared for Real Madrid C while still a junior.

Morata began his career at La Liga club Real Madrid, making his debut with the senior team in late 2010.

In July 2010, after a successful season with the Juvenil A team, where he won two youth titles and scored 34 goals, he was promoted to Real Madrid Castilla, Real's reserve team.

Later that month, first-team manager José Mourinho took Morata and four of his teammates on a preseason tour in the United States.

On 15 August 2010, Morata made his debut with Castilla in a friendly match with Alcorcón, scoring the only goal of the game.

His Segunda División B debut came on 29 August in a 3–2 win against Coruxo, and he scored his first competitive goal in a 1–1 draw against Alcalá on 31 October.

On 12 December 2010, Morata made his debut for the first team when he was brought on as a substitute for Ángel Di María in the 88th minute of a 3–1 La Liga win at Real Zaragoza.

Ten days later he made his first appearance in the Copa del Rey, again coming off the bench in the last few minutes.

In January 2011, after Gonzalo Higuaín's injury, the Spanish media expected Morata to be his replacement in the main squad.

Mourinho, however, rejected this, saying that "Morata is not yet ready to be a starter at Madrid. He trains with us, but he has to continue learning with Castilla".

In this period Morata scored five goals in four matches with the reserves, while Emmanuel Adebayor was signed to replace Higuaín in the first team.

On 13 February 2011, Morata scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 7–1 victory against Deportivo Fabril.

He finished his first season as a senior with 14 league goals – joint top scorer in the squad with Joselu – but Castilla failed to gain promotion in the play-offs.

Morata scored his first competitive goal with Real's first team on 11 November 2012, coming on in the 83rd minute and scoring the winner after just 60 seconds in a 2–1 away win against Levante.

In his first official start, at home against Rayo Vallecano on 17 February of the following year, he scored the opener after just three minutes, but was substituted before the half-hour mark to make room for Raúl Albiol, after Sergio Ramos was sent off in a 2–0 home victory.

After winning the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League, he moved to Serie A club Juventus for €20 million in 2014, winning the double of the domestic league and the Coppa Italia in both of his seasons with the club.

Morata earned 34 caps for Spain at youth level, helping his country win the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

On 2 March 2013, Morata played the full 90 minutes of El Clásico against Barcelona, assisting Karim Benzema to score the opener in an eventual 2–1 home win.

In the following season, he became a regular member of the first-team squad under new coach Carlo Ancelotti, but expressed a desire for more minutes during the January transfer window.

He made his senior debut in 2014, and has represented Spain at UEFA Euro 2016, UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

On 18 March 2014, Morata scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, the third goal in a 3–1 win over Schalke 04 at the Santiago Bernabéu in the round of 16.

On 17 May, in the last game of the league campaign, he scored two late goals against Espanyol to help Real to a 3–1 home win, and finish with eight goals in the competition.

He also featured in the club's victory in the UEFA Champions League Final against Atlético Madrid, playing the last ten minutes of regular time and extra time after replacing Benzema.

On 19 July 2014, Juventus announced that they had reached an agreement for the fee of €20 million for the transfer of Morata, who signed a five-year deal, with Real Madrid having the option to buy him back in the future.

He made his debut in Serie A on 13 September, replacing Fernando Llorente for the final minute of a 2–0 home win against Udinese; two weeks later he again came on in place of his compatriot, and headed his first goal for his new club as they won 3–0 at Atalanta.

On 5 October 2014, in a 3–2 home win against Roma, Morata came on as a substitute and was sent off for a foul on Kostas Manolas, who was ordered off for retaliating.

On 9 November he scored twice in a 7–0 home demolition of Parma, with Llorente – whom he replaced after 71 minutes – adding a further two.

Morata came on for the final ten minutes of the Supercoppa Italiana against Napoli in Doha, Qatar on 22 December, and scored in the penalty shoot-out which Juventus lost 5–6.

On 28 January 2015, Morata played the last 13 minutes of the Coppa Italia fixture against Parma, and scored the game's only goal at the Stadio Ennio Tardini to qualify for the semi-finals.

On 7 April 2015, Morata was sent off for a foul on Alessandro Diamanti as Juventus defeated Fiorentina in the cup semi-final, thus missing the final.

One week later, he won a penalty in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Monaco, which was converted by Arturo Vidal in a 1–0 home win.

In the first leg of the semi-final, against Real Madrid, he put the hosts ahead with a tap-in in the eighth minute, as the match ended in a 2–1 home victory, and he repeated the feat in the return match, on both occasions not celebrating scoring against his former club.

On 6 June, in the final against Barcelona in Berlin, he scored the equaliser early in the second half of a 1–3 loss.

In early August 2015, Morata was ruled out for a month due to a soleus muscle tear in his left calf during training, and was sidelined for the 2015 Supercoppa Italiana.

In his second appearance after returning to action, on 15 September, he featured for 85 minutes and scored the winner in a 2–1 win at Manchester City in the UEFA Champions League group phase.

After being bought back by Real Madrid for €30 million, he won a La Liga title and the UEFA Champions League in 2016–17, before joining Premier League club Chelsea in 2017 for a club record fee of around £60 million.

The following month, at home against Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League round of 16, he scored the winner in the 43rd minute of the first leg; he also started and found the net in the return match, helping Juve to a 3–0 win at the Westfalenstadion.

In January 2019, Morata returned to Spain to join Atlético Madrid on loan, and joined the club permanently on 1 July 2020.

From 2020 to 2022, Morata had another spell at Juventus on loan, winning the Supercoppa Italiana before continuing at Atlético Madrid.