Antonio Conte: Any father would be happy to see Alvaro Morata marry their daughter

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Antonio Conte is so impressed with Alvaro Morata as a man that he believes any father would be happy to let the Spanish striker “marry your daughter” - but admitted that the player needs to forgo his “politeness” in order to add more ‘aggression’ to his game.

Signed from Real Madrid for an initial fee of £58m in the summer, Morata is replacing Diego Costa, who is finally on his way to Atletico Madrid after the clubs this week agreed a £57m deal for the player. The two strikers cut very different characters, as Conte alluded to.

While he described Morata as “a complete player”, the Italian admitted there is “room for improvement” and one of those involves aggression, but that is also why it is the “right moment” to sign him as they can work together to develop this quality.

Conte had been asked ahead of Chelsea’s trip to Stoke City about whether it is an issue that, with an experienced striker like Costa no longer being used, Morata is just 24 and has only had one season as a first-choice forward at a big club.

“I think for Alvaro it’s the right moment to have this situation, to be the striker in a great team and don’t forget with previous experiences with Juventus and Real Madrid he played but not every game, not regularly. For this reason, he is at the right age to have this responsibility. He is a good player, he is a complete player, technically strong, a good leader … he has a lot of room for improvement. Morata is 24 years old which means you have possibility to work with this player for 10 years.

“I like him because he’s a complete player and also he has a lot of room to improve in every situation, tactical, physical, technical aspect, he’s very committed, his behaviour is always fantastic. He is a very polite player, I like this, also I like he’s a good finisher, he feels the goal in every moment, he’s very good to understand which is the best position in the box to receive the ball, to understand where the ball is going.”

When pressed on what he meant by “polite”, Conte said: “He’s a really good guy. It means you have a daughter you’d be open to have this type of person with your daughter, to marry your daughter. A really good guy, a polite person.”

Because of such politeness, Morata is missing that darker edge required by forwards. “This is a process for him, when I speak about a lot of room for improvement it also means this aspect, to be [aggressive].

“For me No 9 is very important, because No 9 is a point of reference for our play, but I think last season Costa played well, and in this season we have changed the striker and we have Alvaro and [Michy] Batshuayi, but don’t forget I can have another option - Eden Hazard. Last season he played No 9 twice, but I ask specific work to my strikers.

“We are talking two players who are very strong, two really good players, two No 9s very strong. But I ask the same work of Alvaro and Michi, and in this position when I play Eden I ask the same. The No 9 position is important as it’s point of reference for our play.”