Mauricio Pochettino has revealed Alvaro Morata rejected a move to Tottenham because he did not want to play second fiddle to Harry Kane.
Morata joined Chelsea from Real Madrid this summer for an initial £58million fee having previously passed on the opportunity to join Spurs when his Real future was uncertain last summer.
The Spain international had been at Juventus for two seasons when, in 2016, Zinedine Zidane activated a buy-back clause in his contract to seal the striker's return to the Bernabeu for a set fee of £24million.
It was unclear at that stage whether Zidane planned to use Morata or sell him on for a much greater price to boost his transfer kitty.
Morata spoke with Antonio Conte and Pochettino about a possible transfer but remained in Spain for another season, scoring 15 goals in 14 La Liga starts.
“Morata talked about myself, in the media – he said: ‘Mauricio called me,’” Pochettino said.
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“That was from the beginning, two years ago or more. He said to me: ‘Why do you want me if you have Harry Kane?’ You know, if you go to try to sign a striker, they will say: ‘Eh, gaffer, you want me for what? To be on the bench?”
