Chelsea coach Maurizio Sarri compared under-fire forward Alvaro Morata to his former Empoli midfielder Riccardo Saponara because his mental fragility impacts his natural ability.
After a bright start to life at Chelsea, Morata has had a difficult time in 2018, scoring just six times in the Premier League since the turn of the year.
The former Italy Under-21 international showed enough potential to secure a move to AC Milan, but the 26-year-old's career is yet to hit the heights many expected, and Sarri feels Morata has a similar type of mental fragility.
"It's difficult," Sarri told reporters. "At Empoli I had a wonderful player, Riccardo Saponara, who we sold to AC Milan.
"Saponara was one of the best players I have ever seen, but a little bit mentally fragile.
"Alvaro has scored four or five goals in his last six matches, so I cannot see a big problem. I hope that there will be more this season.
"Every season he scores 15 or 16 goals, so he's around his average [goal return]. I speak with him every week, but on the pitch he is alone.
"I think that at the moment he's not playing to his full potential. It's difficult."
