Alvaro Morata must arrive at Manchester United from Real Madrid ready to deliver the goods

Andy West 22:03 10/06/2017
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  • If it is to be believed Alvaro Morata is on the brink of joining Manchester United prove to be accurate, the Red Devils will clearly be getting themselves a good player.

    Exactly how good, however, is not entirely certain because Morata, despite now being 24 years old, has never really been given the chance to fulfil his undoubted potential.

    That, of course, is exactly why he looks likely to be heading for the Bernabeu exit door. Without intending any disrespect towards United, it’s clearly the case that if Morata was getting enough playing time under Zinedine Zidane there’s no way he would be leaving Spain.

    But the fact is that Karim Benzema is continuing to block his path to more regular first team football, and looks certain to do so for the foreseeable future.

    Benzema is one of club president Florentino Perez’s personal favourites, and also has an excellent relationship with his fellow Frenchman Zidane, which allowed him to retain first choice status despite suffering a sub-par season.

    Indeed, there must have been many occasions over the last few months when Morata wondered exactly what had to happen for him to usurp Benzema in Madrid’s starting line-up.

    After all, the young Spaniard was playing well and scoring goals, making the most of every opportunity he was given. Benzema, meanwhile, appeared to be affected by his well-documented off-the-pitch problems, dipping into arguably the worst form of his career with games regularly passing him by.

    But when the biggest occasions came around – such as both Clasicos and the latter stages of the Champions League – the teamsheet always saw Benzema’s name included, with Morata relegated to the bench.

    Morata finished the season with just 14 league starts to his name, but he still managed to outscore Benzema (who started 23 games) by 15 goals to 11. In fact, Morata’s goals per minute ratio was better than any of his teammates, including Cristiano Ronaldo, so his frustration at failing to gain more starts is fully understandable.

    This isn’t the first time that Benzema’s stranglehold on a starting place has forced Morata to leave, with the same scenario unfolding three years ago when he made the move to Juventus.

    There was always the sense, though, that he could come back from Italy if he proved himself capable of competing for a starting place at the Bernabeu, and his two years in Serie A were really just an extended big-time apprenticeship for a player who, back then, was still a promising youngster.

    Even with Juve, however, Morata wasn’t fully trusted and only started 27 league games during his time in Turin, reserving many of his best performance for the European stage as Juve progressed to the 2015 Champions League Final, where Morata scored in the 3-1 defeat to Barcelona.

    This time, however, there is a sense of permanence about Morata’s impending departure from his boyhood club and also a sense of no turning back. It’s time for him to prove himself, and shed the ‘one for the future’ tag which has hung around his neck for the last four or five years.

    So what kind of player are United getting?

    As well as having a good eye for goal, Morata is skilful, has intelligent movement, holds up the ball well and possesses just about enough pace to keep defenders honest.

    But he has always looked a little delicate, and the biggest question mark must be whether he will by physically durable enough to withstand the battering he is sure to receive from rugged Premier League defenders and the English game’s lenient referees.

    He also needs to show that he is consistent enough to bear the burden of becoming the focal point of the attack for one of the world’s most high-profile teams. At Madrid, he was never given the chance to show that he could handle such pressure, but now his time to shine appears to be coming.

    Unlike the departed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and former target Antoine Griezmann, Morata is not yet fully proven at the highest level.

    But with Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial already within the ranks, United do not need another ‘developing’ player. Morata must arrive at Old Trafford ready to deliver the goods from day one.

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