e_Paper, Sunday, July 23, 2017

20
SUNDAY, JULY 23, 2017
DT
Sports
Neymar posted this photograph on his official Instagram account, stirring much speculation that he is perhaps mulling moving
to Paris from Barcelona
INTERNET
Morata completes
Chelsea move, targets
silverware
• AFP, London
Premier League champion Chelsea
completed the signing of Real
Madrid striker Alvaro Morata on a
five-year-deal on Friday in a deal
reported to be worth up to 80m euros
($92.2m).
“I am so happy to be here. It’s
an incredible emotion to be part
of this big club. I am looking to
work hard, score as many goals as
I can and to win as many trophies
as possible,” the 24-year-old told
Chelsea’s club website.
Morata put pen to paper with
the London giants after undergoing
a medical and he is now expected
to link up with his new teammates,
who are preparing to play
Arsenal in a pre-season friendly in
Beijing yesterday.
He could make his debut against
Bayern Munich in Singapore next
Tuesday.
Morata, who scored 20 goals in
43 appearances for Real last season
on their way to the Champions
League and Spanish title, also has
nine goals in 20 appearances for
Spain - including three at last year’s
European Championship.
Chelsea technical director Michael
Emenalo said Morata can
make a huge impact domestically
as well as in the Champions
League.
“We are delighted to complete
Alvaro’s signing and welcome him
to the club. We believe he can make
a great impact for Chelsea and look
forward to seeing him in action,”
said Emenalo.
“Alvaro has proven class at the
highest level and his quality will
be a huge asset to Antonio and the
squad.”
Earlier Friday, Chelsea coach
Antonio Conte marvelled at the
“crazy” transfer fees demanded for
players, though he praised Morata
as a young but experienced striker
with a bright future.
“He’s a good striker. He’s a player
with the right prospect for Chelsea.
He’s very young and for sure
he can improve a lot,” Conte told a
press conference on the eve of the
game against Arsenal.
Chelsea had long been linked to
a move for Everton striker Romelu
Lukaku, but they signed Morata after
the Belgian international joined
Manchester United instead for a reported
85m euros.
Asked whether the price paid for
Morata was fair after he had previously
warned about the spending
power of Chinese clubs, Conte
acknowledged that “for sure this
transfer market is crazy”.
“I think if you want to buy a simple
player, okay, a normal player,
you have to start to think to spend
40-50m euros, and I think this is incredible,”
he said. •
Five things on Alvaro Morata
• AFP, London
Decent proposal
Morata possesses a flamboyant side
as he revealed when he proposed to
his sweetheart Alice Campello. He
did so at a show by magician Antonio
Diaz in Madrid. Diaz instructed
Alice to face one way on the
stage and then turn round adding:
“This’ll be the best trick you’ve ever
seen.” As she wheeled round she
saw Morata down on bended knee
with a ring in his hand. “I was more
nervous that day than any other,”
he told The Guardian in April this
year. “When you’re taken away
from your pitch, your territory, the
nerves are greater.” The happy couple
were married in Venice in June.
Conte a long-time admirer
Morata will at last be managed
by Antonio Conte after the latter
coaxed him into joining Juventus in
2014 from Real Madrid and jumped
ship to take over the national side
days before the Spaniard signed
his contract. However, Morata is
positively dewy-eyed about Conte.
“Conte is the manager who most
‘bet’ on me, without even ever
having had me in his team,” he told
the Guardian. “I’m very conscious
of that: he bet on me for Juventus
but left before I arrived. He knows
me better than I could imagine, I’m
sure, and that’s important: it motivates
you to work hard, train well.”
Sensitive side
Morata has very fine locks admired
Picture this! Neymar
stirs PSG fever
• AFP, Paris
Neymar’s decision to post a photo
of himself in thoughtful contemplation
sparked a fresh wave of
speculation that he is on the verge
of sealing a world record 222-m-euro
($256.8m) move from Barcelona
to Paris Saint-Germain.
The Instagram picture, even accompanied
by a matching emoji,
shows the 25-year-old Brazilian superstar
stretched out on the pitch
with his chin resting on his left hand.
It garnered more than 1.5m
“likes” within 12 hours of it being
posted in the United States where
Barca are on a pre-season tour.
Three of the “likes” came from
PSG players - winger Angel di Maria,
goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and
midfielder Marco Verratti.
French newspaper Le Parisien
fuelled speculation Friday with an
unsourced report that Neymar had
told several Barca teammates of his
Alvaro Morata is all smiles with the Chelsea jersey
by many. Sergio Ramos had a ritual
whereby he shaved Morata’s head
hoping it would bring them goals
but last year he appeared shorn for a
very different reason. It turned out
he was doing it in support of child
cancer sufferers at the Hospital
Nino Jesus de Madrid. “There were
some kids at a hospital that wanted
to have the same hairstyle as me,
but they couldn’t (due to cancer).
Instead for them to have my hair
style, I cut my hair and got their
hairstyle,” he said.
Father figure Buffon
Morata left Juve for a return to
Real last year but he will forever
be indebted to legendary Juve
and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi
Buffon. He found life hard in Turin
until Buffon took him to one side
and told him not to show how he
was feeling in public, lest others
use it to their advantage. “All
lads who aren’t mature yet live
various situations to the extreme.
intentions to join PSG, adding that
the transfer is considered a done
deal by some Barca players.
That echoes media company
Esporte Interativo’s insistence that
an agreement has been reached
for Neymar to move to the French
capital from Barca, where he has
played since 2013.
On Tuesday, PSG skipper - and
fellow Brazilian - Thiago Silva gave
a digital thumbs up to a mocked-up
photo montage published by Esporte
Interativo showing Neymar in a PSG
shirt along with compatriots and prospective
teammates in France.
Barca coach Ernesto Valverde
described the ongoing saga as a
“time of rumours”.
That match will give Neymar a
chance to display his coveted skills
for the first time this summer.
PSG skipper Thiago Silva told Le
Parisien he had no idea if the Brazilian
star was about to switch to
the French capital. •
INTERNET
They live with great joy or with
great depression if things aren’t
going well,” Buffon told Real
Madrid TV last year. “Alvaro had
some negative thoughts in his last
period at Juve, we talked about it
a bit because I felt sorry for him,
he was a lad I really liked and I
wanted to help him and give him
security. He deserved the help
of a teammate, and I have huge
affection for him.”
Morientes’ stamp of approval
Morata has been often compared
with former Real striking great
Fernando Morientes - who formed
a lethal partnership with Raul for
many years. Morientes himself is
a great admirer of Morata. “He’s a
penalty area player who plays well
high up the pitch. He’s a goalscorer
and a complete player,” he told
Omnisports last year. “And apart
from that he’s a player you can use
out wide. He’s very quick and he
can go past players.” •