Atleti strike permanent Morata deal with Chelsea for 2020-21

Alvaro Morata will make a full-time switch to Atletico Madrid for the 2020-21 season after the LaLiga side agreed terms with Chelsea to make his loan move permanent.

Spain striker Morata left Chelsea for the Wanda Metropolitano on an 18-month loan in January and the clubs have now confirmed he will not return to Stamford Bridge.

Atleti are believed to have agreed to pay around £50million after Chelsea reportedly threatened to activate a recall clause inserted into the 26-year-old’s loan contract.

Morata, who netted six LaLiga goals in the second half of last season, will formally remain on loan with Diego Simeone’s men throughout the 2018-19 campaign, before the terms of his permanent contract are enacted.

Thank you and good luck, @AlvaroMorata. 

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) July 6, 2019

Atleti have been busy in close-season, with news of the Morata agreement following the arrivals of midfielders Marcos Llorente and Hector Herrera, centre-back Felipe and teenager Joao Felix, signed from Benfica for €126m.

It also ends the former Real Madrid and Juventus striker’s difficult stint in London.

Morata managed 16 goals over one and a half seasons in the Premier League but never convinced as a long-term successor to Diego Costa, now his team-mate at the Wanda Metropolitano.

Ex-Blues boss Maurizio Sarri sanctioned his departure and brought in Gonzalo Higuain as a replacement to limited success, with the Argentina striker having now returned to Juventus with the Blues opting not to extend his loan.

Frank Lampard will not have the opportunity to reinvest the funds, however, with Chelsea in the midst of a two-transfer ban, which the club appealed against to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.