Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata reveals he has been playing through pain after recent hamstring injury

Alvaro Morata has revealed he has been battling through the pain barrier at Chelsea.

However the Spain international has expressed his gratitude to his new club for giving him the starring role that he did not receive at Real Madrid.

Chelsea’s club record signing, Morata hit the ground running in England, scoring seven in his first seven games for Antonio Conte’s side.

But a hamstring injury suffered in late September forced Morata to miss the trip to Crystal Palace even as he hurried back in time for the following fixture at Roma. The 25-year-old struggled to find the net after returning to the side and had to wait until Sunday’s 1-0 win over Manchester United to add to his goal haul.

​Morata admitted he had been far from his physical peak during that barren run but expressed his gratitude to Chelsea manager Antonio Conte for keeping faith in him.

“I needed to be playing every week and Real Madrid could not offer me that,” Morata told an interview with Marca.

“It does not matter if I am on top form or not, I need to be playing football and that is why I decided to move on.

“Recently I have not been physically at my best stage for the last three games but playing is what I wanted to do and is why I joined Chelsea.

“Every player wants to be at Real Madrid of course, I fought my entire life to be at the club but only in the starting line-up.

“Now I’m at Chelsea, I have what I need.”