Alvaro Morata Will Be Real Madrid's Player to Watch in Pre-Season

Real Madrid already have their first group of players back at the club for pre-season training, with the majority set to return over the weekend ahead of games against the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea this summer in the International Champions Cup.

Pre-season is often a time for young players to shine when they would otherwise not be given much opportunity around the first team, but it's also a moment when new signings are integrated in the team, learn about their new team-mates and try to win a regular spot in the XI.

Alvaro Morata is a player who transcends those groups for Real Madrid, having come through as a young forward at the club before departing for Juventus, where he played two seasons before being re-signed by Real this summer.

Now aged 23, he's back at his initial side and hoping to make a bigger impact at the reigning UEFA Champions League holders, making Morata the player to watch over the next few weeks.

Point of return

Speculation over Morata's future went on all season long, with Real Madrid not executing their buy-back clause until midway through Euro 2016.

Indeed, there has been some suggestion that Real bought him with the intention of immediately selling on for a large profit—but Goal.com reported that the Santiago Bernabeu club have decided to keep the striker in place, turning down an €80 million offer in the process from an unnamed club, with both Chelsea and Arsenal interested.

"

Alvaro Morata will remain a Real Madrid player this season, according to @marca. pic.twitter.com/wjfcullnvM

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) July 9, 2016"

It's an astronomical amount to turn down for a player who netted just 15 league goals in two seasons in Serie A, but manager Zinedine Zidane is said by Marca to be delighted at having the striker available to him for the forthcoming campaign.

Morata ended 2015-16 as Juventus' third-choice striker, behind Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic in their two-man attack, but scored the winner in extra time in the Coppa Italia final after coming on as sub. He then went to Euro 2016 as Spain's starting striker, netting three goals in the group stage as he performed rather better on an individual level than the national team did as a whole.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

Now back at Real, he faces arguably more competition for game time than he did at Juventus—where he played fewer than 1,500 minutes in Serie A last season.

Benzema

Real Madrid's starting front three is largely indisputable for Zidane when all are fit: Karim Benzema is the centre-forward, flanked by Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale—the BBC attack.

It's Benzema with whom Morata will be in a direct battle for a starting role, with the Frenchman excelling last term...when he was fit. Unfortunately for Real, that was only 58 per cent of the time last season, in terms of league minutes played, with a succession of injuries seeing Benzema miss much of the last third of the campaign.

He had the summer off, though, not featuring at Euro 2016, and should be ready to fire.

JORGE GUERRERO/Getty Images

Benzema's big strengths in the Real Madrid attack are his movement and link play; he is a perfect foil for the wide forwards who cut infield, laying the ball off for them with regularity and always finding space in the box to allow a through pass, a chipped cross or cut-back from the byline to find him.

An incredible strike rate of a goal every 93 minutes across last season also helped, as he netted 28 goals in all competitions despite his fitness worries.

Morata

Morata is not the same type of striker as Benzema, yet does share some basic traits that should make him a success at Real Madrid in terms of jelling with Ronaldo and Bale instead of Benzema.

Predominantly, it is his work in the channels that he must rely on, with a key characteristic of Morata being his constant aggressive drives down the sides of defence, both providing an out-ball for the midfield to relieve pressure and also opening up space centrally for others to exploit.

@karlmatchett

The natural inclination of Ronaldo to attempt to move centrally in buildup play should dovetail perfectly with Morata's penchant for drifting left, receiving the ball on his right foot and looking infield, making it difficult for defenders to track both runners—before Morata himself attacks the box, too.

@karlmatchett

He's arguably as strong in the air as Benzema is, perhaps even better, and while not a lightning-quick forward, Morata is agile, closes defences down well and has shown he is instinctive enough to run across defenders inside the six-yard box, where he will always get chances to score.

Areas to work on include getting shots away more quickly inside the area, not always needing to take a couple of touches first and certainly finding more consistency in his overall game if he is to become the first-choice forward at the club in future seasons.

La Liga

European champions they might be, but Real Madrid are looking to close the gap in their domestic league and reassert their dominance of Spanish football, which has not been the case for nigh on a decade now, with Barcelona the preeminent force.

One league title in eight seasons is testament to that, and Zidane's biggest job must be to restore Real to the top of the table; continental success was fantastic, but it must be acknowledged that his team were handed an astonishingly simple run to the final, certainly compared to opponents and local city rivals Atletico Madrid. 

Across the fair playing board of a 38-game season, both the squad's quality and the manager's own tactical and decision-making ability will be equally tested; success there and nobody can question the integrity, deservedness or planning of the club.

Can Morata help bridge that divide? Without being a top-class player who can immediately take the team up a level, yes, he can—by ensuring a greater continuity of goals and tactical deployment, both when Benzema is unavailable and, quite possibly, in tandem with him.

Real have used a 4-4-2 lineup previously, so both strikers could potentially start, while Ronaldo's injury absence means Morata may be involved in the UEFA Super Cup on August 9.

@karlmatchett

Benzema has also played loosely from the left in a 4-3-3 with France, providing another option Zidane will be aware of, so there's plenty of scope for Morata to be more involved in '16-17 with Real than he was last term with Juve.

To make good on his talent, to be seen as a genuine alternative starter to Benzema and to keep Real siding on the opinion of keeping him rather than cashing in, pre-season is imperative for Morata, and he has to find his feet fast, both in the squad hierarchy that will have changed since he was last around and, more importantly, on the pitch.

Follow @karlmatchett