Alvaro Morata says that playing time was the single decisive reason behind his Real Madrid exit.

Asked about the reasons behind leaving Madrid, Morata said: "In the end, the only decisive reason, which Real Madrid were not able to give me, was to play each Sunday, whether good or bad.

"Now there have been three games where I have not been at my best physically but I have continued to play. This is what I needed. Real Madrid are Real Madrid and any player would want to be at Real Madrid. Why would I want to leave Real Madrid? I wanted to play, nothing else.

"It has been said that I did not want to battle but I fought all my life to be at Real Madrid and be in the starting eleven. All my life, but I needed to play and in Chelsea I have got what I wanted."

He added: "I will be thankful for ever to Zidane because he gave me the chance to win another Champions League and play at Real Madrid. He said to me 'Alvaro, I know that you want to play and have consistency and I think it would be logical for you to go'. He said to me that he wanted me to stay but also that he had a lot of options going forward.

"I decided that the best thing was for me to go because there was a World Cup ahead and I wanted to be at that. I want to be an important player for Spain and for that I need consistency which I am looking for."