Chelsea had little choice but to replace Diego Costa this summer.

The striker's relationship with Antonio Conte is at an all-time low. While he remains a Chelsea player officially, he hasn't returned to pre-season training and is spending the summer in exile.

The controversial star's departure has been on the cards since his training ground spat with his manager back in January, so at least the Blues have had plenty of time to make plans for his replacement.

And after missing out on Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United, they wasted no time in turning their attentions to Alvaro Morata.

The 24-year-old endured a difficult spell at Real Madrid, but that hasn't dampened any of the excitement surrounding his arrival.

Zinedine Zidane handed him just 14 La Liga starts last season and he still managed a return of 15 goals.

There's no shame in playing second fiddle to Karim Benzema, and that's why Conte was still happy to pay £58million to bring him to west London.

However, not everyone's convinced that Morata didn't get a fair crack of the whip at the Bernabeu.

Owen isn't convinced 

Michael Owen has come out with some surprising criticism of the Spanish international, explaining why we shouldn't read too much into the goals he scored at Real.

"I have question marks over Morata, he did well in Italy but he was never a starter at Real Madrid," Owen said, per the Mirror.

"He scored goals off the bench, but I've played for them and you're always going to score in that team given Real score four or five most weeks and you've always got the ball unless you're against Barcelona.

"There's no doubt he's a decent player, but he's never played in the Premier League before which could be a factor in how well he does."

So, how does Morata compare to Costa? The latter was Chelsea's top scorer last season with 22 goals in all competitions. Morata wasn't far behind with 20, though of 

course Real were also playing in the Champions League.

Ultimately, Costa's attitude has become a problem and he has to go - but Owen is concerned that Morata will struggle to fill the void.

"I think Arsenal are stronger with the signing of Alexandre Lacazette, United are probably stronger with Romelu Lukaku coming in but Morata over Costa at Chelsea?" he added.

"That's the big question for me and I'm not too convinced."

Is Morata good enough to replace Costa? Have your say in the comments.