Diego Simeone Coy Amid Rumoured Atletico Madrid Bid for Chelsea's Alvaro Morata

Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone says he could not "confirm or deny" whether his club is interested in signing Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata in January. 

Simeone was asked about Morata after a 1-1 draw with Girona on Wednesday, but he would not be drawn on whether Los Rojiblancos are considering a move for him.

Per Goal, he said:

"I don't speak about players that aren't with us, only those that are. I can't confirm or deny anything because coaches wait to see what the club can do. 

"Some players want more minutes, some could be sold by the club, some could arrive. We need to wait until January 31."

Fellow La Liga side Sevilla have confirmed their interest in signing the unsettled Chelsea player. Director of football Joaquin Caparros told Sevilla's club media on Tuesday that they want Morata to join them and that he is receptive to a move there (h/t Football Espana).

Morata has scored 24 goals in 72 matches since he arrived at Chelsea in 2017. While his goals-per-game ratio with the Blues is higher than he managed at Real or Juventus, Chelsea will have wanted more from a £60 million (€66.3 million) signing.

In his most recent match, he scored twice against Nottingham Forest in a 2-0 FA Cup win, but his performance might be better remembered for an inexplicable miss from point-blank range.

Football journalist Jason Pettigrove believes Morata needs to leave Stamford Bridge:

Atletico are second in La Liga, five points behind leaders Barcelona, but they have scored just 26 goals in 18 games.

Los Rojiblancos have never been particularly free-scoring under Simeone, but Diego Costa has netted just once in the league, and they could do with some more firepower as they bid to overhaul the Blaugrana.

Costa had foot surgery in December after playing with pain for the duration of the season.

Morata could give them an alternative, and he's particularly effective off the bench:

At Chelsea, there's a great deal of pressure on him as the team's primary centre-forward, and he has struggled to cope with it.

At Juventus and Real, he typically did his best work as a back-up. With the former, he had the likes of Carlos Tevez and Paulo Dybala sharing his goalscoring responsibilities, while with the latter, he scored 20 goals in the 2016-17 season despite largely being used when Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema were rested.

With Atletico already having Costa and Antoine Griezmann up front—depending on the former's recovery—he would likely be given a similar role, and that could give him the platform to restore some much-needed confidence.