'Zidane wanted me to stay, but he understood my decision'

"Zidane said to me 'Alvaro, I know that you want to play and have consistency and I think it would be logical for you to go'. He said to me that he wanted me to stay but also that he had a lot of options going forward. I decided that the best thing was for me to go because there was a World Cup ahead and I wanted to be at that. I want to be an important player for Spain and for that I need consistency which I am looking for at Chelsea," he admitted in an interview for 'Marca'.

The Spanish striker reiterated his wish for a regular starting place, the main motivation behind a move to Stamford Bridge: "In the end, the only decisive reason, which Real Madrid were not able to give me, was to play each Sunday, whether good or bad. Now there have been three games where I have not been at my best physically but I have continued to play. This is what I needed," he added.

"Why would I want to leave Real Madrid? I wanted to play, nothing else. It has been said that I did not want to battle but I fought all my life to be at Real Madrid and be in the starting eleven. All my life, but I needed to play and in Chelsea I have got what I wanted."

The 25-year-old left Real Madrid this summer despite winning the Champions League and La Liga, but he does not look back: "You should never have regrets in life, all the steps that I have taken in my career have served for something and I have learned from them," said the former Juventus man. "I won in Italy, I won at Real Madrid and I felt important. Now I have a challenge ahead of me to be champion in Spain, Italy and England. None or very few Spaniards have achieved that and it is my goal. To win the Premier League and be the Spaniard that has won in three different countries," the striker said ambitiously.