Alvaro Morata happy to have Real teammate Mateo Kovacic at Chelsea

Bengaluru, August 12: Striker Alvaro Morata says he is happy that his former Real Madrid teammate Mateo Kovacic has joined Chelsea and adds that the midfielder has a lot to offer.

While Thibaut Courtois moved to Real Madrid in the summer transfer window on a transfer deal reportedly worth £35 million, Kovacic joined the London club on a season-long loan.

Kovacic, who rarely got playing time at Real, desperately wanted to move out of the Madrid team.

The 24-year-old Croatian midfielder only started 10 La Liga games for Real Madrid in the previous season. The midfield trio comprising of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Luka Modric were very much settled in the 4-3-3 formation of Real Madrid under the management of Zinedine Zidane last season and it was really difficult for Kovacic to get into the starting lineup of Real Madrid ahead of these midfielders.

Kovacic knew that the story would have been the same this season too had he stayed back at Real and sought a move to a new club, eventually joining Chelsea.

Morata, who joined Chelsea from Real, is delighted to see a familiar face. "He is a midfielder who is good with the ball, very technical," Morata told the club's official website. "He can break through the lines with his quality, he can score goals and he has a lot of power in his legs.

"With him we will win a lot of possession and he has the ability to carry the ball into the final third and provide passes for the strikers.

"He's a very good player which is very important for us because we need top players."

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri wants to implement a 4-3-3 formation at Chelsea in which Jorginho will play the role of a deep lying playmaker. This will allow N’Golo Kante and Kovacic some free space to go up front and help the attackers.

Against Huddersfield Town on Saturday (August 11), Chelsea used Ross Barkley in the midfield and it's expected that he will make way for Kovacic in the next fixture against Arsenal.