Alvaro Morata, upon receiving the ball just before the halfway line, drove through the spine of Bayern Munich. Cutting the middle of Die Roten in two, he shrugged off David Alaba, gracefully knocked the ball round Medhi Benatia, and, on the edge of the box, just before the lunging Joshua Kimmich hurled himself towards him, the Spaniard neatly slides a reverse pass to Juan Cuadrado, who conjures his own magic, burying his shot coolly past Manuel Neuer to give Juventus the lead in the 2015/16 Champions League. 
 

The Bundesliga side eventually brought the game back to stun their Italian rivals 6-4 on aggregate - but no one forgot that piece of blissful play by Morata. It was watched over countless times, going viral on social media. People finally started to grasp the hype behind the young Spain international.
 

It is why the £60m move to Chelsea on a five-year-deal last week has not raised too many eyebrows. The 25-year-old’s strength compounded with his technical brilliance and pace has earned him the plaudits of many football observers - yet there has always been a primary concern for some: his mediocrity in front of goal. 


 

In his first spell at his boyhood club, Real Madrid, he only managed 11 goals in 52 matches, and while Juventus - where he was signed by his new boss Antonio Conte – the Madrid-born player only bagged 27 goals in 93 appearances for the Old Lady. 

Not atrocious stats by any measure, but a numerical figure that wouldn't suggest a world-beater.

Real Madrid, however, opted to exercise their 20m euro buy-back clause in 2016, and so he returned to the La Liga giants, subject to Zidane’s inclination for reshuffle, becoming a secondary choice to star forward Karim Benzema. But despite his 19 starts for Los Merengues last campaign, Morata answered his critics and scored 20 goals.


 

During the same period Conte, had set alight the Premier League by implementing three at the back. This allowed his defence to cover the flanks from his wing-backs, which was then enforced with further insurance with the central defenders, permitting the attackers to express themselves more freely. This change led his Chelsea side to the title in Conte’s inaugural season in West London.
 

Yet the astute Italian noticed a chink in the armour. The fiery Diego Costa did score 22 goals in all competitions but he only accomplished a 53% shot accuracy and found himself contributing more defensively than Conte would have hoped for in a leading striker. So, after a tussle with Manchester United over Romelu Lukaku, Conte finally picked up Morata from Real Madrid, with Real manager Zidane conceding that Madrid were ‘weaker’ without him. 
 

Now Morata has been given the best possible chance to set the world alight. With Conte’s tactical blueprint, the former-Juventus striker will be allowed focus on netting goals for the Pensioners. He will be relieved of his defensive duties and, moulded by Conte, he will be trained to be a lethal weapon inside the 18-yard-box. Despite the sentimentality for Costa, Chelsea have surely found an upgrade. Morata is younger, fresher, and if trained the right way, he has the worth to elevate his new club to a new level. 



Follow Jacque on Twitter @Jac_Talbot