Pat Nevin has been blown away by the form and transformation of ex-Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata after his recent brace in the Champions League.
The 31-year-old helped Atletico Madrid thrash Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic on Tuesday night, by scoring twice and assisting during the game – he has five goals alone in the Champions League this season.
It wasn’t so long ago that Alvaro Morata was struggling in the colours of Chelsea, with Pat Nevin remembering his ‘nightmare’ spell at Stamford Bridge, as he told BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Before Alvaro Morata and since his exit, that striker role still hasn’t been properly filled by Chelsea, with Nicolas Jackson hoping to make his mark now.
But when Alvaro Morata was at the club, he bagged 24 goals in 72 games for the London club.
And after watching him in action recently, Pat Nevin was blown away by his movement because he feels that the Spain star is now ‘absolutely extraordinary’.
Alvaro Morata at Chelsea
“Morata, considering what everybody thought of him when he was playing for Chelsea, the nightmare he had there,” said Nevin.
“He is an incredible striker. He is always in the right place at the right time – He is absolutely extraordinary.
“I have looked through a lot of his goals in the last few while, just trying to understand what he does differently now than what he was doing in England. He is just as good as you get ghosting in. His numbers are brilliant.”
Chelsea’s striker issues
Yes, Nicolas Jackson netted a hat-trick recently against Tottenham, but it was against nine men and he will be hoping to use those goals to give him confidence going forward.
Chelsea don’t have an answer to their striker problems yet. But fans will be hoping Jackson can continue to thrive or Christopher Nkunku, who is yet to play for the team because of injury, can step up.
If they don’t, then Mauricio Pochettino is in big trouble because Chelsea won’t really go anywhere and an already-expensively assembled squad will only get more money thrown at it.
The answer is to probably remain patient with Jackson, wait until Nkunku comes back and also give Armando Broja a proper chance.
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