Beppe Marotta confirms that Álvaro Morata is returning to Real Madrid

After weeks of speculation about what could happen when it comes to Álvaro Morata's future in Turin, Juventus director general has now told us exactly what will happen. At least when it comes to Morata playing for Juventus again, that is.

Marotta has confirmed Tuesday that Morata will see his buyback clause activated by Real Madrid and head back to the Spanish giants this summer. Who knows where he may go from there with big-money bids reportedly on the table from England, but we now know for sure that he won't be playing his football next season with Juventus — and that's certainly going to be a disappointing thing for some of us.

"Real Madrid have exercised their clause for Alvaro Morata" says @juventusfcen dG Beppe Marotta, but is "waiting for the official offer"

— Adam Digby (@Adz77) June 21, 2016

Based on how things have gone this summer, this was always going to be the more likely of the potential outcomes that were possible. Whether he stays in Madrid or is sold off for a nice chunk of change, Real Madrid activating the buyback clause they worked into Morata's deal with Juventus two summers ago was becoming more and more likely the last few weeks. As much as Marotta and Juventus wanted to keep him around and have him continue to develop with the young core alongside Paulo Dybala and Paul Pogba, it just wasn't in their hands with the way the deal was constructed.

(Thus the problem with buyback clauses to begin with.)

This past season obviously didn't see Morata enjoy as much personal success as he did in his first year with Juventus when he became a regular starter after Max Allegri slowly integrated the young Spaniard into the lineup. He still performed well on the big stage, continuing his bright performances in the Champions League — yes, THAT game against Bayern Munich comes to mind — while he scored the game-winner against Milan in the Coppa Italia final.

We'll always have those memories, Álvaro. Now to discuss endlessly of how Morata will be replaced. Sounds like quite the "wonderful" way to spend the summer months.

UPDATE: Real Madrid have confirmed that Morata will be heading back to Spain via a brief announcement on their official website:

Real Madrid C. F. have informed Juventus FC of their decision to salvage the federative rights on the player Álvaro Morata, who will join up with the first team for pre-season training under the command of Zinedine Zidane.