In this latest twist to the striker transfer saga involving several top players, Juventus appear to have decided on their replacement for Gonzalo Higuain. Having looked at a host of different options, they arrived at Alvaro Morata, who will return to the Italian giants, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Juventus Complete Alvaro Morata Deal
One of Several Strikers Linked
After mutually agreeing to end Higuain’s contract, new Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo has been actively trying to replace the Argentine. Of the long list of strikers, the most notable are Luis Suarez and Edin Dzeko, but in the end, they decided on signing the Spaniard.
Suarez was the initial target, but there were complications with his attempt to obtain an Italian passport, and he could not join as a non-EU player. After these issues held up the deal, Juve decided to go in another direction, and Suarez will actually join Atletico Madrid as Morata’s replacement.
Dzeko was also a rumoured target, but external factors, such as Roma’s replacement for him, held up the deal, and Pirlo and Juve pounced on Morata. After such a complex transfer saga involving strikers, it appears that everything will fall into place soon.
Morata Returns to Former Club
The 27-year-old played for Juventus for two years, from 2014-2016, and experienced lots of success with the Bianconeri. Instrumental in the 2015 Champions League final run, Morata scored two massive goals against his former club, Real Madrid, in the semi-finals. In the final, he also notched his side’s only goal against a treble-winning Barcelona.
The amount of success he was able to achieve with Juve in 2015 was impressive, and unfortunately for the Italians, Madrid exercised their buy-back clause and brought Morata back.
From there, he was a substitute in Madrid for a year and then signed for Chelsea. His time in England was certainly not his best period, coming under heavy criticism for failure to perform in important matches, as well as his inability to adapt to the rougher English game.
After a tumultuous end to his Blues career, he moved to Atletico Madrid, where he was reborn under Diego Simeone. He was back amongst the goals and seemed far more settled in Spain. Chelsea actually did very well to get a pretty sizable transfer fee for him, nearly £60 million.
It now looks like Atletico will take a big hit on his fee, although they may not mind so much since they’re getting Suarez on a free transfer. In the end, it’s a good bit of business for all parties involved. Morata returns to his former home where he had so much success while Juventus also get a quality player – one who is more than worthy of playing for such a massive club.
Having played with him during his first stint, Pirlo knows Morata very well, and he will look to once again get the best out of him. For Morata, he joins a star-studded squad with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala, and he’ll look to emulate his past success.
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