Alvaro Morata firing optimism on his return to Atletico Madrid

As homecomings go, it could scarcely be bettered. Two years and two days since his last game for Atletico Madrid, Alvaro Morata was back in his native city, back in an Atletico jersey and at the home of Getafe, the club where he spent his apprenticeship.

He was at the top of his game. Fifteen minutes in, Morata arrowed in a cool left-footed drive for the first goal of Monday’s 3-0 win. Before the hour, a rising, angled Morata shot gave Atletico their second.

By the close of match day one of La Liga, the much-travelled Spain forward, 29, stood at the top of the scoring charts. Robert Lewandowski, the glamour arrival at Barcelona, had not marked his league debut with a goal. Nor was Karim Benzema, lodestar of champions Real Madrid, off the mark.

“We hope Morata carries on with us,” said Diego Simeone, the Ateltico head coach, after a satisfactory start to a campaign in which the target is to again upset the expected order and, as Atletico did in 2014 and 2021, snatch the title ahead of neighbours Real and big-spending Barca.

“I want to be here and I’m thrilled to be here,” confirmed Morata after his dream return.

Those remarks were a response to the player’s peculiar status as target and catalyst in this summer’s open and fluid transfer market.

Morata is an asset Atletico’s bosses could have, and still might, cash in on. He is accustomed to that. In the last eight summers, Morata has moved six times, a restless cycle that has yielded many medals – Liga and Champions League prizes with Real Madrid, Serie A wins with Juventus, an FA Cup at Chelsea – leaving a lasting impression he is always deemed a desirable option at ambitious clubs but dispensable once a coach sets his sights on a upgrade who looks more of a