ALVARO MORATA

Who is he? Where does he play?

Morata is a 20 year old striker currently playing for Real Madrid, or as the uniquely fangled way goes in Spain, the "B" team, home of the big team youngsters trying desperately to catch the eye of the club's manager by playing well in the lower leagues. It looks as though Morata may have done just that though by scoring the vital late winner in Madrid's 1-2 victory at Levante.

Go on.... use that cliche....

"The stuff dreams are made of"? Well, it definitely was for Morata, who was turned to by Mourinho like a weary poker player using his hand in one final act of desperation. With the league title slipping away, "the Special One", shorn of such luminaries as Higuain, Benzema and co. saw Levante's 1-1 and raised them a Morata, sitting quietly on the bench, who duly came on to head the winner with his first touch.

Great stuff! Everybody was happy?

Not really, the political circus of Madrid was never going to embrace the vital contribution of their youthful saviour though was it? Pepe decided to get himself into a fight which kind of marred proceedings, whilst Mourinho was forced to face volatile interrogation as to why he never trusted youth-teamers when one of them had just done such a wonderful thing for him. 

We'll just focus on Morata?

We shall, it seems a shame his golden moment was overshadowed, but we'll point out that Morata was always a prolific scorer for the Madrid "Cantera", as they call their bunch of young lads, hitting 34 goals in one season for Madrid C, before his rise to the B team. Mourinho gave him a dabble in professional matches with a few substitute cameos. An injury to Higuain sparked rumours that Morata may be the first Cantera since Iker Casillas to make a breakthrough, but Mourinho shot that down, "he needs to grow up", he said. He hit 14 goals last year for the B team as they won the Segunda Division B title.

He's pretty prolific then?

He knows where the goal is, that's for sure, he was leading scorer in last year's Under-19 European Championships for Spain with 6. He has been compared with ex-Madrid goal-getter Fernando Morientes due to his ruthlessness in front of the onion-bag. His superb movement and ability in the air (as showcased in Levante) make him a nifty front-man with a potential to suggest he will go far, that is if Mourinho disavows his antipathy with the Cantera.

Will he leave Madrid if not?

So soon is unlikely, especially if he can carry the same impact he did on Sunday that has put him in such high regard with Madridistas already. Mourinho is short on attackers too, so Morata may stick it out, he has a chance to finally break the Cantera hoodoo. However, he's a striker, he's unproven in a senior realm, he's not English, he's young, so it has drawn imperative links with.... yes, you've guessed it.... ARSENAL!!!