Sky-high London property prices shock Chelsea’s Spanish footballer, Álvaro Morata

Spain and Chelsea striker Álvaro Morata is reported to be unhappy in London. But it’s not the weather or food that’s getting him down, it’s the property prices.

He may have moved from Real Madrid to Chelsea over the summer for a cool £65 million, signing a £160,000-a-week contract in the process, but Spanish footballer Álvaro Morata has already expressed his disbelief at London’s extortionate property prices.

It usually takes many months for newly arrived Londoners to realise that the homes they’re living in really aren’t value for money. But canny Morata has seen the woods for the trees quite early on – possibly because, being Spanish, he is used to a better cost-quality ratio…

Despite being one of the world’s best-paid sportsmen, Spaniard Morata evidently hasn’t lost his sense of value-for-money. Many Premier League footballers would think nothing of shelling out millions of pounds for a house in or around London, and reports suggest that Morata is looking to do likewise despite his initial disgust at the high prices.

Of course, many football pundits in the UK were quick to mock Morata for his outburst, stating that he could “easily afford” his pick of the properties in the British capital.

However, such a dismissive stance misses the point: homes in the UK – London in particular – have been artificially overvalued for years, and Morata should be praised for pointing this out. Indeed, the fact that he can afford anything he wants but still spoke up about the sky-high prices shows an awareness of true market realities often lacking among his cossetted peers.

Morata is not the first foreign Premier League star to complain about London’s property prices. Former German captain Michael Ballack also balked at the cost of living in London during his Chelsea stint a few years ago.