The last chapter of the soap opera Álvaro Morata has not yet been written, far from it. Despite the fact that ‘Mundo Deportivo’ reported this Friday that Barcelona had finally ruled out the incorporation of the Juventus striker, since he was not willing to pay a 40 million purchase option to Atlético de Madrid, the truth is that the technicians, led by Xavi Hernández, maintain their commitment to the Spanish attacker. So much so that, as AS has learned, Morata continues to be, to this day, the number one candidate in the preferences of the technicians to reinforce the attack in the winter market. “The player is crazy to come and we love him,” they insist from the locker room.
That does not take away from proposing a certainly complex scenario, where there are obvious disagreements within the club regarding the priority of bringing Morata and especially under what conditions. LInformation from ‘Mundo Deportivo’, signed by its deputy director, Fernando Polo, highlighted that there were many doubts about the need to pay 40 million this June for Morata, especially with such a stratospheric operation as bringing the Norwegian Haaland on the horizon .
Obviously, these differences about the convenience of Morata, which exist in the club’s board, are also on the street, since there is no unanimity about his signing among the fans. For many, he is not a scoring striker, and for others, his gestures and past statements give him away.
Another of the arguments to explain the handbrake in the striker’s operation is that the club does not want to impose more pressure than it has. The director of football, Mateu Alemany, does not want to relive with Morata what he suffered with Ferran Torres, signing a player when he still did not have free chips or necessary ‘fair play’.
With the former Real Madrid player, the strategy is going to be very different: Morata will not be signed until the wage bill is released. And today, to achieve that goal, the downward renewal of Dembélé or Sergi Roberto has to be closed, or it must be transferred to Dest or Memphis. The transfer of Umtiti could also help, but it is the least realistic option of all, as they recognize from the entity.
Until one of these operations is activated, or several at the same time, Barcelona will not make a move for Morata. In any case, what is clear is that neither Morata is ruled out nor Xavi has thrown in the towel for the Spanish international.