'I was left with no choice' - Alvaro Morata says he was forced to give up his salary and blasts Galatasaray as striker gives 'real explanation' behind transfer feud

After his contract was officially terminated at Galatasaray, Morata took to social media and slammed the Super Lig outfit for not fulfilling certain commitments. The Turkish club initially refused to let him leave this summer despite him having no place in their first-team plans for the upcoming season before they finally relinquished and agreed to release him after intervention from Milan and Como.

Morata joined Galatasaray on loan in February and his contract, which was supposed to end next January, had a buy option of €8 million. After failing to have much of an impact in Turkey, Morata chose to join Como this summer, but the Turkish club demanded a €10m fee as compensation. Milan finally reached an agreement with Galatasaray that will see the Serie A side pay €3m plus potential bonuses, thus terminating the loan. Como, meanwhile, will need to pay €10m to Milan.

With the saga now behind him, Morata took to Instagram to criticise Galatasaray, saying: "Until the very end, the commitments made were not honoured, to the point where I was left with no choice but to forgo part of my salary and other contractual rights I had already earned through my work (the figure published is not accurate). For me, in life and in work, there are principles that should never be broken, such as respect for each person’s rights. Failing to recognize and compensate what has been earned is, to me, unacceptable and contrary to the values of fairness and professionalism I believe in. I know these matters are often not spoken about openly, but I believe it is right to give the fans the real explanation of what happened. You and the city of Istanbul will always remain in my heart, and I wish you the very best, today and in the future."

Morata will now represent Como. His first potential match could be against Sudtirol in the Coppa Italia.