Alvaro Morata's ex-wife Alice Campello has given her first interview since splitting up with the former Chelsea and Real Madrid star, and opened up on their break up.
Campello and Morata split after seven years together which brought them four children, with the news coming in the wake of the striker captaining Spain to the European Championship crown earlier in 2024.
In fact, some reports from Spain have suggested that things began to go downhill in the immediate aftermath of that historic night, with the couple arguing on the pitch in Berlin.
It is thought that Campello had been keen for just her and their children to join Morata on the pitch, rather than his parents and family.
During the competition itself Campello had leapt to Morata's defence amid a barrage of criticism from the Spanish media in the direction of their captain, who was dubbed a 'crybaby' for comments he made about perceived disrespect towards him, before the two parted ways just a few weeks later.
However Campello, a successful businesswoman whose Masqmai brand turned over approximately £7.3million in 2024 (€8.8m), has opened up on her relationship with Morata in an interview with Forbes Women.
'He has loved me very much and very well. He pushed me a lot in all my projects and made me see a good part of myself that perhaps I did not see. For me that is love,' she said.
The couple were married for seven years, but together for eight, and at 29, Campello had been with Morata for most of her 20s, starting a family at such a young age.
As such, she told Forbes Women that she perhaps wasn't 'prepared' for family life, and that her pregnancies and postpartums took a toll on her wellbeing, though she hastens to add that her family is 'the best thing in my life'.
'I don't think I was prepared. The best thing in my life has been having them so close together and when I see them playing together I find it impressive.
But I wasn't realising how much it has affected me on a mental level. My pregnancies and my postpartums have affected me a lot. Especially the last one, when I almost died.
'The next day I was trying to be with my children, showing everyone that I was fine. I should have lived through my grief.'
Campello received specialist care at the University Hospital of Navarra in Madrid after suffering 'complications' in the birth of their fourth child in 2023.
The 29-year-old also noted that although the couple speak on a daily basis, Campello did add that she is not suffering from 'any kind of heartbreak'.
'I talk to Alvaro every day. He hasn't left her for another woman, nothing like that has happened. Alvaro is respecting me. It's more that we weren't okay because of our things.
'And we have to be okay again, period. My goal now is not to get back, but to be okay. It's my family and it always will be.'
For his own part, Morata has moved from Spain to Italy, joining AC Milan from Atletico Madrid in the wake of leading Spain to the Euros title this summer.
Yet he revealed that he is still 'devastated' by the break up, and criticism in his homeland forced him to leave the country.
'I am tired of people saying that I was unfaithful to Alice because I didn't even go to the national team party so that this type of rumour wouldn't arise,' Morata told 'D Corazon' on La 1 via AS.
'Since then I haven't spoken to anyone out of respect for her and so that this type of news doesn't arise.
'I am devastated. I have fled Spain because I cannot bear the pressure and criticism any longer.'