Alvaro Morata talked to Sid Lowe about the strange business of soccer.

"There are even players who sell their rights to investment funds, just pieces in a puzzle with no voice and no vote, [where] the sentiment football always had is lost a bit. It’s marketing, contracts … footballers are more like singers or rock stars than sportsmen with feelings or belonging, a love of the colors. Before, a club wanted to sign a player and said: ‘This guy scored 20 goals, he plays well.’ Now, they look at sales.

“But,” he says, “when the ball starts to roll, that rescues everything. Thankfully – because if not, it would be more of a business than a sport.”