Reports: Juventus plan to extend Alvaro Morata’s loan for another season

It wasn’t so long ago that there looked to be a legitimate possibility that Alvaro Morata, a man who very much enjoys life at Juventus and in the city of Turin, could be ending his return to the club after all of one season on loan. It wasn’t any fault of his own, with the second €10 million option for a season on loan viewed as a stretch during the club’s current financial crunch.

Like a handful of other things that have taken place over he past week, what you might have thought a few days is now in a very different (potentially Max Allegri-influenced) situation.

According to Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti and Fabrizio Romano of Sky Sport Italia on Sunday night, what was thought to be the case nearly two months is now very much not the case when it comes to Morata’s future in Turin. That means instead of heading back to Atletico Madrid after one season in Turin, Morata’s loan spell is now expected to be extended for another season — a part of the deal that Juventus has always had to the option to do from the very beginning. The loan fee if it is picked up for the 2021-22 season is €10 million, the same price tag that Juve spent to bring Morata in for this past season, one where he scored 20 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions.

Even with the rumors from two months ago that said Juventus’ financial situation might force them to pass up the second-year loan on Morata, I want to ask you this: For the price of €10 million, is there really a better striker available? It’s pretty difficult to think of one that is Morata’s age and is coming off one of the most productive seasons of his career.

Sure, Morata has his faults. He’s a streaky player and obviously has a track record of that over multiple clubs and in multiple leagues. But when push comes to shove, Morata’s production last season for the price that Juventus paid was a pretty good value.

Now, with Allegri back in the fold — a manager who has already coached the 28-year-old Spaniard once before — there’s already some sort of comfortability factor there. And you have to think that if Allegri didn’t want Morata around, then these kinds of reports would only be confirming what we heard a couple of months ago. Instead, a lot like the reports of Paulo Dybala’s contract talks being restarted and Giorgio Chiellini coming back for another season at Allegri’s request, you gotta think that Juve’s new manager has a lot of influence in Morata sticking around.

And for a roster that has plenty of holes to fill, having some good value is never going to hurt.