It’s been a tough season for the Spanish striker and it may have just gone from bad to worse
Chelsea attacker Alvaro Morata has been withdrawn just before half-time in Chelsea’s Europa League Group L game with Vidi.
The 26-year-old went down with a painful-looking knock to his knee and seemed to be in distress as he left the field.
Morata was replaced with Olivier Giroud, with no news yet on the severity of the problem.
The former Real Madrid and Juventus man started against Wolves last week, but after a poor showing was left out of the squad altogether for the win against Manchester City at the weekend.
Without Morata, Maurizio Sarri opted to play Eden Hazard as a ‘false nine’, while Giroud was selected on the bench ahead of the Chelsea number 29.
The striker has not enjoyed the best of times since moving to Stamford Bridge in the summer of 2017. Despite a positive start to last season, which saw him score six in his first six games, Morata never fully gained the confidence of Chelsea fans or, then manager, Antonio Conte.
He finished the campaign with 11 league goals - and he only found the back of the net once in the Premier League after the turn of the year.
This campaign Morata has scored seven times in 21 appearances for the Blues but has not always looked confident, leading to speculation that Sarri may look for a new striker in the transfer window.
Morata came through the Real Madrid youth team and made his first-team debut aged just 18. After struggling to hold down a regular place in the side he moved to Juventus in 2014, before returning to Los Blancos after two seasons in Turin.
After failing to oust Karim Benzema from the Real side, Morata joined Chelsea the following year for a reported fee of around £70m.
The latest setback will be a big blow for both the Spaniard and for the Blues, if indeed it turns out to be long-term.
It could leave Sarri with Giroud to select up front, and could even lead to him recalling Tammy Abraham from his loan spell with Aston Villa.