Chelsea doesn t know when injured Morata will return

London Feb 10 (IANS) English Premier League (EPL) club Chelsea coach Antonio Conte has said that he doesn t know how much longer injured striker Alvaro Morata will be sidelined.

The Spaniard who joined Chelsea from Real Madrid last summer for a club record 70 million pounds ($96.53 million) has been out for weeks with a back injury reports Efe.

"Players like Morata for us are very important and have been missing for a long period of time. I don t know how long he will be out " Conte said during the press conference on Friday ahead of the Blues EPL match against West Bromwich Albion.

"We are struggling a lot to find a solution to solve the pain in his back. If you ask me whether he needs a day a month or the rest of the season I don t know. For this reason I m a bit worried. You know very well the importance of the player " the coach added.

The absence of Morata coincides with Michy Batshuayi s move to Borussia Dortmund on loan a decision that Conte downplayed.

"Now the transfer market is finished. It s finished. We took a decision. Now I think this is not important to say we could have done this or we should have done that " the Italian manager said.

On the last day of the winter transfer window Chelsea signed French striker Olivier Giroud from Arsenal.

--IANS
tri/