Alvaro Morata is reportedly under 24 hours away from completing his €18m switch from Real Madrid to Italian champions Juventus. After continuous speculation since the opening of the transfer window, the Old Lady look to have finally agreed a deal in principal for the 21-year old striker. The news of the agreement will be music to the ears of the Juventus fans, who have faced a long wait for their club to make any progress with the deal, and also after a week of disappointment, as head coach Antonio Conte resigned after three consecutive Scudetto winning campaigns. Wednesday saw Serie A rivals AS Roma capture young prospect Juan Iturbe, who had been in talks with Juventus prior to the signing. Manchester United have also continued their pursuit of midfield talisman Arturo Vidal.
Morata touched down in Turin on Friday afternoon and told Sky Italia “I am very happy to be here.” The Spaniard arrived at the airport via a private jet from Madrid and was greeted by reporters as well as officials from Juventus. “I will have my medical tomorrow and can’t wait to start my new adventure.” Morata will spend the night at Vinovo the training ground of Juventus before having his medical and contract signing on Saturday. “I hope everything goes well.” He further added in an interview that was published on the Juventus YouTube channel.
The initial fears after the appointment of Massimiliano Allegri as Conte’s successor was that he would scrap the deal for Morata, but it seems that those fears have been groundless as the club are on the verge of sealing the deal.
Morata has been seeking the exit door at the Bernabeu throughout the course of this season after watching the majority of his side’s Copa Del Rey and La Decima winning campaign from the substitute’s bench, and wants to venture a new challenge, playing first team football. Carlo Ancelotti declared to the young Spaniard that he could not offer Morata that at Real Madrid for the fourth coming season with so many attacking options at his disposal. Morata first hinted on January the 9th 2014 that he may strive for a move away from Madrid should he not feature in the first team as much as he would like to:
“It’s important to have a proper role in the team. I’ve been at Real Madrid my whole life and I’ve been a Real Madrid fan since I was a young boy. I will be all my life but it’s important to have an important role. If the moment comes that I don’t, I will look at my other options, staying here would therefore become complicated. Playing five or ten minutes is okay if you accept it. You have the chance to get on the pitch and try to change a game in such a short space of time. Every minute in football is gold”.
Real have accepted the €18m offer that is on the table which includes a buy-back clause (which is unknown). The player’s representatives were at the Santiago Bernabeu yesterday to make sure the deal was all in place before flight to Turin to complete the medical and contract.
Morata made just three starts in La Liga last season, coming off of the bench 20 times, netting 8 goals. He also made four appearances, featuring just one start in contribution to Real’s Champions League success. Prior to this season Morata impressed with Real Madrid Castilla in the 2012/13 season, earning him a place in the first team squad. He scored 11 goals in 12 matches, also making 10 starts for the Spanish U19 squad, and 12 starts for the U21 team, which is renowned for being consistently littered with future stars.
The €18m transfer is expected to be officially completed and announced tomorrow.