Spain captain Alvaro Morata reveals mental health struggles led to Atletico Madrid departure | OneFootball

Alvaro Morata had an eventful summer. In July, he guided Spain to glory at Euro 2024, before leaving Atletico Madrid in favour of a move to AC Milan.

Morata has now opened up on the decision behind his Atleti exit. In an interview with El Partidazo de COPE (via Marca), he revealed that he was struggling with his mental health during his final months in the Spanish capital.

“When you have really hard moments, depression, panic attacks, that doesn’t matter what work you do, the situation you have in life that you have another person inside that you have to fight against them every day and every night. For me it was the best thing to leave Spain, I couldn’t stand it.”

Things were tough for Morata, but he was massively helped by those close to him, which included officials from Atletico Madrid.

“I had a very bad time. I thought I wasn’t going to be able to put on my boots again and jump into a field. But well, thanks to many people, from Simeone, Koke, Miguel Angel Gil Marin last year, my psychiatrist, my coach… We are what is seen on TV and on the networks but many times it is not real. You have to give an image because it’s your job. I had a very bad time, I exploded and there came a time when I couldn’t button my boots, and when I did I would run home because my throat would close and I would start to get blurry vision.”