Alvaro Morata preferred to remain with Juventus instead of returning to Real Madrid for one season before his move to Chelsea.

Morata was sold by Real Madrid in 2014 for €22 million but they activated their buy-back option when he became one of the world's best strikers.

"There were contractual agreements to respect, but the disappointment was enormous -- I found myself right back where I had started," Morata said. "They treated me like the lad that I was before my two years in Italy.

"My two years at Juve were fantastic. I was just a lad when I arrived and I was a real footballer when I left. For a Spaniard, Italy is the best place to live. You've got all the beauty, history, art, good food and fashion.

"I would never have left Italy and Juve."

Morata scored 15 goals in 26 appearances for Real Madrid in his one year back.

"I came here because they have a coach like Antonio Conte," he said. "We started to talk about me possibly coming here last spring and, in the end, I actually came to London. There were a series of situations that were favourable, starting with the coach -- I knew Conte and I had no problems fitting into his ideas of football.

"[Conte] is demanding, but he gets the best out of his players' strengths. You can tell that he knows what it is like to be at a big club, first as a player, then as a coach."