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Morata aiming for first-team regular spot at Chelsea

SINGAPORE — New Chelsea man Alvaro Morata is looking to establish himself as a first-team regular in the upcoming season for the first time in his career.

Alvaro Morata (left) with teammates Cesar Azpilicueta (centre) and Lewis Baker at the Ericsson event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Morata hopes to become a first-team regular so as to improve his chances of playing in the 2018 World Cup finals. Photo: Ericsson

Alvaro Morata (left) with teammates Cesar Azpilicueta (centre) and Lewis Baker at the Ericsson event at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Morata hopes to become a first-team regular so as to improve his chances of playing in the 2018 World Cup finals. Photo: Ericsson

SINGAPORE — New Chelsea man Alvaro Morata is looking to establish himself as a first-team regular in the upcoming season for the first time in his career.

The Spaniard has played his past seven campaigns with two of the world’s biggest clubs — five with hometown side Real Madrid and two at Italian giants Juventus — and chalked up 240 appearances. However, he started in fewer than half of them.

Despite often coming off the bench, Morata has managed a respectable 103 goals in total and that was enough to convince Blues manager Antonio Conte to bring him to Stamford Bridge. In fact, it was Conte who brought Morata to Juventus first, but the Italian left before he had a chance to manage the player.

Doing well week in, week out will also bolster Morata’s chances of a World Cup debut for Spain in Russia next year and, at 24, the time has come for him to prove he has what it takes to be a key player at a top side.

“The most important aim this year, the first thing I have to do, is to play more at Chelsea and, if I work hard and do well, probably I can go to the World Cup,” he told reporters during an Ericsson event yesterday at the Ritz Carlton in Singapore.

“It’s a dream, the possibility of going to play at a World Cup, but I can’t think about that now, I can only think about this season with Chelsea and I hope it’s a good first season.”

The striker, signed on a deal worth an initial £58 million (S$103.6 million) that could rise to £70 million, has already been backed by Conte to hit the ground running. He made a good impression by notching an assist in his first appearance during the 3-2 loss to Bayern Munich on Tuesday night in the International Champions Cup here.

“I am very happy to be part of the Chelsea family,” he added. “I want to win everything, and I hope (we can do) so.”

His fellow countryman, defender Cesar Azpilicueta, is helping Morata to settle in London and is confident that he will be a hit.

“He doesn’t need much adaptation because he’s a good player, he has played for top teams like Real Madrid and Juventus,” said the 27-year-old.

“Obviously, I will try to help off the pitch with a few things that are normal for new players to go through …

“I like to be (playing) with the best and I think he’ll improve the whole team.”

The duo, along with team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Lewis Baker, were at an event to celebrate Chelsea’s partnership with Ericsson, which was recently unveiled as the club’s Official Connected Venue Partner.

As part of the partnership, Ericsson will provide free Wi-Fi coverage at the Bridge via the Small Cell as a Service connected venue business model.

The players showed off some tricks and interacted with lucky fans, and also took part in a Fifa 17 challenge with four Singaporean Ericsson engineers.

Morata even managed to score as himself on the video game. Chelsea fans will hope that is the first of many goals to come.

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