Alvaro Morata reveals how his wife, family’s “bad time” in London influenced his Chelsea exit

Atletico Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has revealed his wife and family had a “really bad time” in London when he played for Chelsea.

Morata arrived at Chelsea from Real Madrid with plenty of expectation on his shoulders but after a bright start he lost his confidence.

Last January he returned to the Spanish capital with Atletico Madrid where he has rediscovered his form.

While Morata struggled on the pitch, his stunning Italian girlfriend Alice Campello quickly became a hit with the Chelsea fans, report the Daily Star.

The 26-year-old has claimed the pair have “regained their happiness” following his loan move to Atletico Madrid.

He told La Otra Cronica: “It seems like the obvious thing to say to gain points with the fans but my family and I were coming from a really bad time in London.

“Here we have regained our happiness.

“Though many people may not believe it, we spent four or five summers wanting to come to Atletico. I am very happy.”

Sergio Ramos reacts to Jose Mourinho speculation, tells Real Madrid what to do to Zidane over poor results

Los Blancos captain Sergio Ramos has dismissed speculation linking Jose Mourinho with a return to Real Madrid and urged the club to keep faith with Zinedine Zidane.

Zidane is already under pressure at Madrid after an inconsistent start to the season, just six months after taking charge of the club for a second time.

Madrid are second in La Liga, level on points with leaders Sevilla, but were thrashed 3-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in their opening Champions League game.

That result sparked rumours that Zidane could be sacked just weeks into the new season, with Mourinho strongly linked with a return to the Bernabeu.

Mourinho is out of work after being sacked by Manchester United in December last year, but Ramos, who had a fractious relationship with the Portuguese during his time in charge at the Bernabeu, was quick to dismiss the rumours, report the Sportsmail.

‘It doesn’t annoy me that his name is linked, that’s how it is,’ said Ramos after Sunday’s 1-0 win over Sevilla.

‘I don’t have to say if it annoys me or not, that’s the situation. Here, you lose a game and you have to change something. It’s difficult but that’s the reality.’

Ramos, who has spent the last 14 years at Madrid, says he has become accustomed to knee-jerk reactions to adverse results at the club and doesn’t believe replacing Zidane would guarantee a change in the club’s fortunes.

‘Everything that surrounds Real fills the newspaper covers and programmes and creates further speculation,’ he continued.

‘In my opinion, talking about another coach is showing disrespect to our trainer. In this respect, we have shown that despite recent results we are with Zizou.

‘Now you must remain calm. We repeat that we want to maintain good work dynamics and doubt in Real Madrid at this stage of the season would be crazy. Therefore, calmness and faith in this team and this trainer.’

Carabao Cup: Five Chelsea starlets Frank Lampard may call up to face Grimsby Town this week

Frank Lampard is reportedly set to pick five Chelsea youngsters to confront Grimsby Town this week in the Carabao Cup clash this week at Stamford Bridge.

The Blues got to the final last season, losing to Manchester City on penalties, but Wednesday’s match gives them the chance to get one step closer.

With the Mariners in League Two and Chelsea having several injuries through the squad right now, it could be a big chance for Frank Lampard to rotate his team.

That also means that several youngsters might well get their chance to play in the first team, with Lampard having already shown that he is willing to give them an opportunity.

There is one reason why so many youngsters won’t play, however, and that is the Chelsea U21s have a Leasing.com Trophy match at Bristol Rovers the day before, report football.london.

Ian Maatsen:
17-year-old left-back could called upon as the first choice for the role Emerson Palmieri is out as his injury flared up once more at the weekend, meaning he had to come off the pitch against Liverpool just 16 minutes into the game.

That means Marcos Alonso is set to get more game time, but Lampard might want to rest him ahead of another Premier League game on Saturday.

Reece James:
The 20-year-old has been recovering from an ankle injury that he picked up after last season, and he has been eased back into action.

James played 45 minutes and then 76 minutes for the U23s, and it could be a good chance to give him some first team action to set him up for the rest of the campaign.

Billy Gilmour:
With Jorginho and Mateo Kovacic having seen a lot of action, and N’Golo Kante still not 100% fit, it could be the perfect time to see the talented 18-year-old in the first team again.

Callum Hudson-Odoi:

This is the one that a lot of Chelsea fans are very excited about, as the 18-year-old takes that step closer to a regular return to the first team.

Like James, Hudson-Odoi has played twice for the U23s, scoring at the weekend to mark his return from a dreadful Achilles’ tendon rupture.

Lampard was eyeing up this match as the chance to get Hudson-Odoi back in the fold and step up his recovery.

Marc Guehi:
The 19-year-old was also on the bench for the Champions League match with Valencia and is the club’s fifth centre-back right now.

Chelsea’s centre-backs have not got away with the injury problems, with Andreas Christensen the latest to pick up a knock from the weekend.

Added to that, Antonio Rudiger’s groin injury has been an issue and it means that Guehi could get his chance, with others rested.