Spain striker Alvaro Morata said on Sunday he has passed a medical with Atletico Madrid, with his loan move to the La Liga side from Chelsea expected to be confirmed imminently.
“Everything went well, thank God,” Morata told reporters as he left the Clinica Universidad de Navarra medical centre in Madrid, having flown to the Spanish capital from London on Saturday.
Morata, who passed through Atletico’s youth academy before switching to local rivals Real Madrid, is to sign an 18-month loan deal Spanish media reports said — with a £48.5m option to sign him permanently at the end of the season.
Morata, who also spent two years at Juventus, joined Chelsea from Real Madrid in 2017 for a reported €80m ($91.30m).
Despite a promising start to his career in the Premier League, with 10 goals in his first five months, Morata has had a disappointing year with the London club, starting fewer than half their league games under coach Maurizio Sarri.
“I’m very happy, I’ve spent days waiting for this,” Morata added, also addressing his spell with Real, where he won one La Liga and two Champions League titles. “I began my career at Atletico and the people who know where I come from and know my history know what this means for me.
“The past is the past, and it cannot be changed, and I’m very proud of it. I am looking forward to everything being completed so I can start training with my teammates.”
Morata joins an Atletico side who are second in La Liga and in the Champions League round of 16 but have struggled to find a suitable strike partner for Antoine Griezmann.
Croatian striker Nikola Kalinic has struggled for form since joining last year, making only two league starts and scoring twice.