Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata has taken a sly dig at Jose Mourinho by admitting that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has shown more faith in his abilities.
The Blues have already announced a deal with the European champions, and the player will join the club after completion of necessary formalities.
Morata, 24, was initially tipped to join league rivals Manchester United with Mourinho keen on a reunion with the striker, whom he offered his Real Madrid debut at the age of 18. However, the Special One baulker at Los Blancos' cm plus valuation for the Spaniard as he had no Premier League experience in his bag.
Mourinho eventually opted to hijack Chelsea's deal for Romelu Lukaku after they agreed on an initial £75m to secure his signature from Everton. The Belgium international opened his goalscoring account in the 2-1 friendly win over Real Salt Lake, and he already looks a good signing for the Europa League holders.
Morata spent two seasons at Juventus where he developed his reputation as a top-class striker, and the Spaniard believes that Conte has trusted the most in his abilities despite the pair not working together in Turin. Conte had sanctioned Morata's move to Juventus back in the summer of 2014 before he took up the national team job with Italy.
Real Madrid decided to activate the buy-back clause in his contract to re-sign him from Juventus last summer, and he had therein attracted interest from Chelsea, only for Los Blancos to rule out his sale for the 2016/17 season. Morata was sparingly used by Zinedine Zidane over the course of the previous campaign, and it was evident that the striker would push for an exit once the season came to a close.
A move to Old Trafford would have been fitting for the Spain international, but he will now relish the prospect of scoring against United while wearing the famous Blues strip of Chelsea.