Álvaro Morata

Real Madrid

Born in Madrid, Morata signed for Real Madrid in 2008 from neighbouring Getafe CF, finishing his formation two years later but starting appearing for Real Madrid C still as a junior. In July 2010, after a successful season with the Juvenil A where he won two youth titles and scored 34 goals, he was promoted to Real Madrid Castilla; later that month, first team coach José Mourinho took the player alongside four teammates to a preseason tour in the United States.

On 15 August 2010, Morata made his debut with Castilla in a friendly match with AD Alcorcón, scoring the only goal of the game. His third division debut came on the 29th in a 3–2 win against Coruxo FC, and he netted his first official goal in a 1–1 draw against RSD 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 debut in the Copa del Rey, also coming from the bench in the last minutes. In January 2011, after Gonzalo Higuaín's injury, Spanish media appointed him to be his replacement in the main squad. However, Mourinho discarded this option saying that "he's not prepared to be in the starting lineup of Real Madrid. He needs to grow up and finish his formation with Castilla"; in this period of time he scored five goals in four matches with the reserves, while Emmanuel Adebayor was being signed to fit the missing striker in the first team.

On 13 February 2011, Morata scored the first hat-trick of his career, in a 7–1 victory against Deportivo de La Coruña B. He finished his first season as a senior with 14 league goals – squad best alongside Joselu – but Castilla failed to gain promotion in the playoffs.

Morata scored his first official goal with Real's main squad on 11 November 2012, entering the field in the 83rd minute of an away fixture against Levante UD and netting the 2–1 winner after just 60 seconds. In his first-ever official start, at home against Rayo Vallecano on 17 February of the following year, he scored the opener after just three minutes, but was removed from the pitch before the half-hour mark to make room for Raúl Albiol after Sergio Ramos was sent off in a 2–0 home success.

On 2 March 2013, Morata played the full 90 minutes in El Clásico against FC Barcelona, providing the assist as Karim Benzema scored the opener in an eventual 2–1 home win.

In the 2013–14 season, Morata became a regular member of the first team squad under new coach Carlo Ancelotti. On 18 March 2014 he scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, closing the scoreline in a 3–1 win over FC Schalke 04 at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium for the round-of-16. On 17 May, in the last game of the league campaign, he netted two late goals against RCD Espanyol to help to a 3–1 home success and tally eight in the competition; he also featured in the club's victory in the final of the Champions League against Atlético Madrid, playing the last ten minutes of regular time and extra time after replacing Benzema.

Juventus

On 19 July 2014, Juventus F.C. announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Morata, who signed a five-year deal for the fee of €20 million, 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 Calcio; two weeks later he again came on in place of his fellow Spaniard, and headed his first goal for his new club as it won 3–0 at Atalanta B.C..

On 5 October 2014, against A.S. Roma, Morata came on as a substitute and was sent off for a foul on Kostas Manolas, who himself received his marching orders for retaliating. Juventus won the home fixture 3–2. On 9 November he scored twice to help to a 7–0 home demolition of Parma FC, with Llorente – whom he replaced after 71 minutes – adding a further two to the scoreline; he came on for the final ten minutes of the Supercoppa Italiana against S.S.C. Napoli in Doha, Qatar on 22 December, and scored in the penalty shootout in a 5–6 loss.

On 28 January 2015, Morata played the last 13 minutes of the Coppa Italia fixture also against Parma, and scored the game's only goal at the Stadio Ennio Tardini to qualify his team to the semi-finals. The following month, at home against Borussia Dortmund for the Champions League's round-of-16, he scored the 2–1 winner in the 43rd minute of the first leg; he also started and found the net in the return match, helping to a 3–0 success at the Westfalenstadion.

On 7 April 2015, Morata was sent off for a foul on Alessandro Diamanti as Juventus defeated ACF Fiorentina in the cup semi-finals, thus missing the final. One week later, he won a penalty in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals against AS Monaco FC, which was later converted by Arturo Vidal for an eventual 1–0 home success, also the final aggregate score. In the first leg of the semi-finals, against his former club Real Madrid, he put the hosts ahead through a tap-in in the eighth minute, as the match ended with a 2–1 home victory, and he repeated the feat in the return match, on both occasions not celebrating. On 6 June, in the final against Barcelona in Berlin, he scored the equaliser early into 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 since returning to action, on 15 September, he featured 85 minutes and netted the 2–1 winner at Manchester City for the Champions League group phase; on 30 September, he scored to help defeat Sevilla FC 2–0 at the Juventus Stadium, his fifth in as many appearances in the latter competition to equal Alessandro Del Piero's record, and on 24 November he was nominated for the UEFA Team of the Year.

On 10 December 2015, Morata signed a contract extension that kept him at the club until 2020. On 20 March 2016, in the Derby della Mole against neighbours Torino F.C., he came off the bench in the first half and scored twice in a 4–1 away victory. On 21 May, he came off the bench to score the winning goal in the 110th minute of extra time to win the Coppa Italia 1–0 against A.C. Milan in Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

Return to Real Madrid

On 21 June 2016, Real Madrid exercised their buy-back clause to bring back Morata from Juventus for €30 million. His first competitive appearance took place on 9 August, as he started in a 3–2 win over fellow Spaniards Sevilla FC for the UEFA Super Cup, being replaced by Benzema after 62 minutes. His first goal came in a 2–1 home success over Celta de Vigo, on 27 August.

Youth

Morata was called by the Spanish under-17 team for the 2009 FIFA World Cup in Nigeria, playing four matches and scoring two goals for the third-placed side. Subsequently he represented the under-19s at the Japan International Tournament, helping to a second-place finish after the hosts.

Morata was selected by Spain to the squad that appeared in the 2011 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Romania, helping the national team win the tournament with six goals, the highest in the competition. He made his debut with the under-21s at the 2013 European Championships in Israel, being essential in the first two group games against Russia and Germany by netting the solitary goal in each contest, respectively in the 82nd and 86th minutes; he closed out a perfect group stage for both team and player with his third, against the Netherlands (3–0)– eventually he was crowned the competition's top scorer, and it also ended in conquest.

Senior

On 7 November 2014, Morata was called up to full side manager Vicente del Bosque's squad for matches against Belarus and Germany. He made his debut against the former on the 15th, replacing Isco for the last ten minutes of a 3–0 win in Huelva for the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers; in the same competition, on 27 March 2015, he scored his first senior international goal, the only in a victory over Ukraine in Seville.

Selected for the finals in France, Morata started and scored a brace in a 3–0 group stage win against Turkey in Nice.

Style of play

Good in the air and at holding up the ball, with clinical finishing ability, quick feet and excellent movement, Morata drew comparisons to Real Madrid and Spain's Fernando Morientes due to his playing style. During his first season at Juventus, he stood out for his pace, energy and work-rate on the pitch, while his technique, opportunism and positional sense saw him score several crucial goals.

A versatile and well-rounded forward, Morata is capable of playing as a main striker or linking up play between the lines, and can even play out wide on the wing. He is also an accurate penalty taker.

Personal life

In March 2014, Morata shaved off all of 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".

Since 10 December 2016, he is engaged to his girlfriend Alice Campello.

Club

¹ Includes UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup matches.

International

International goals

Club

International

Individual