OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Álvaro Morata returns to Juventus on loan

When Álvaro Morata saw Real Madrid activate its buyback clause in the summer of 2016, you got the feeling that he wasn’t totally on board with it. He was a part of a Juventus side that he truly enjoyed and seemed to love, with a life in Italy being one that made him quite happy as a man in his mid-20s.

It’s been an interesting road taken to this over the course of the last four years. Morata has been a part of three different clubs and had expectations placed on him that he never truly was able to meet no matter just how obtainable those might have been.

But, almost out of nowhere, Morata finds himself back in his happy place. That is, he’s back at Juventus.

After whirlwind 24 hours that started with rumors aplenty flying and ended with Morata actually flying into Turin-Caselle Airport late Monday night, the 27-year-old Spaniard is officially a member of Juventus once again. Juventus has confirmed on its official website late Tuesday night that Morata has returned to the club on loan from Atlético Madrid with an option to buy over the course of the next two summers in a deal that fills the No. 9 shaped void the Italian champions have been trying to fill all summer.

The details of the deal, from Juve’s official website:

Turin, 22 September 2020 - Juventus Football Club S.p.A. announces that an agreement with Atletico de Madrid for the temporary acquisition, until the end of 2020/2021 sportive season, of the registration rights of the player Álvaro Morata has been finalized for a consideration of € 10 million, to be paid during current financial year.

The agreement further entails:

• The right for Juventus to definitely acquire the player’s registrations rights by the end of the 2020/2021 season for a consideration of € 45 million to be paid in three financial year;

• The right for Juventus to extend the temporary acquisition of the player’s registrations until the end of the 2021/2022 season for a consideration of € 10 million;

• The right for Juventus to definitely acquire the player’s registrations rights by the end of the 2021/2022 season for a consideration of € 35 million to be paid in three financial year.

There he is. Álvaro Morata back in bianconero. Bet you didn’t expect that to happen at the beginning of the work week.

Yet here we are. The last two or three weeks full of rumors when it comes to who Juventus would sign as their new No. 9 didn’t look like it would result in this kind of way. First we thought it was going to be Luis Suarez. Then it looked like Edin Dzeko. Then Morata was only a Plan B if the Dzeko deal fell through.

Now, Morata is back in town.

More Morata indeed.

The way this deal is structured definitely gives Juventus some time to evaluate Morata just to see if the player the club saw the last time he was in Turin is still there. He comes cheaper than both Suarez and Dzeko in terms of what he’s making, and the year-long loan is almost half of what Juve would have had to pay if they signed Dzeko outright. And given the current state of the Juve’s finances in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, having a player like Morata essentially on loan at the club for the next two years is something that isn’t a massive burden on the money that is actually available to spend on players.

Now we just wait and see that if Morata returning to a club that he refers to as his family can bring that spark back. It’s not long ago that he was scoring some of the biggest goals in the Champions League for Juventus, and maybe that ends up being the case once again. You won’t find me objecting to that.