Morata is hoping to complete a move back to Spain by joining Atletico Madrid on an initial loan deal until the end of the season.
And Chelsea boss Sarri says he knew the striker's time was up at Stamford Bridge when the player confessed he wanted out before Christmas.
Sarri said: "Morata is potentially a very good player. He has the characteristics for playing in my team, but one month ago he said he wanted to play for another team.
"It was very difficult for him to give us 100 per cent because of his mental situation.
"He is very suitable for my football, but the situation has changed in the last month, so we needed to change."
Morata's admission that he was unable to give everything for Chelsea convinced the club to accelerate their pursuit of Gonzalo Higuain.
The Argentinian completed his loan move to Stamford Bridge from Juventus yesterday in a move the Blues hope will finally end their search for a regular goalscorer.
Sarri added: "In the January market it is very difficult to get a very good striker. Gonzalo was in a situation we could try to get him, so we decided to try."
Morata is now hoping to seal his move to Atleti, having decided the time was right to quit England and return to Spain.
The Spanish international has struggled to live up to the expectations of becoming the long-term replacement to Diego Costa as Chelsea's main goalscorer.
Chelsea forked out £60million to sign him from Real Madrid in 2017, but since then he has scored only 17 goals in 47 Premier League appearances for the club.
At times it has looked as though he was unable to cope both with the demands of the English game and the pressure on him to be the club's main man in attack.
Chelsea believe they have given the player every opportunity to prove himself but now concede an exit is the best for both club and Morata.
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