Cesc Fabregas challenges Chelsea new boy Alvaro Morata to hit the ground running to replace Diego Costa

Cesc Fabregas has challenged Alvaro Morata to hit the ground running if he wants to fill the void left by Diego Costa.

The Spaniard, a £70million arrival from Real Madrid, has been signed to shoulder the goalscoring burden with last season's top scorer Costa set to leave after manager Antonio Conte told him he no longer featured in his plans.

Costa is set for a return to former club Atletico Madrid leaving Morata and Michy Batshuayi, who scored twice in the 3-0 win over Arsenal at the weekend, as the only strikers in the first team squad.

And Fabregas knows that both must get amongst the goals early if the Blues are to get where they want to go this term.

"They are two young strikers who will have to improve as quick as possible because they are our main strikers," he said. "When you are the main striker for Chelsea you need to fight for all the competitions and if you are going to fight for all competitions you need your strikers to score lots of goals.

"He (Morata) has a lot of potential, the same as Michy to improve. It's up to them how far they want to go."

Fabregas believes the entire squad will get more chances to prove themselves next season, with Conte's side hoping to challenge both at home and abroad.

open image in gallery

"Last season, because of the schedule with no Champions League and we went out early in the League Cup, we were all fit for most of the season, the manager didn't have to make a lot of changes," he added. "The manager has said himself it is a long season ahead with lots of games ...I'm sure we will have more opportunities ahead of us."