OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: Juventus extend Alvaro Morata’s loan deal

There were three paths Alvaro Morata’s Juventus career could have gone down this summer.

For one, he could have gone back to Atletico Madrid, a place where he might not have been totally wanted and not necessarily viewed in the highest light. He could have retuned to Juventus for another season on loan. Or, Juventus, in a transfer market where their financial constraints are going to be discussed at almost every turn, could have dropped a whole lot of cash to make his transfer permanent.

This offseason, Juventus has chosen Door No. 2.

Juventus announced Tuesday that Morata’s loan deal has been extended another season through the 2021-22 season. While no official financial details were included in Juve’s announcement, go back to the original return of Morata back in September and you’ll see that the three doors the club had to choose from included a €10 million option to do exactly what they did. And even though there might have been some reported skepticism about Morata truly staying earlier in the calendar year, Morata’s future looked more and more like it was in Turin over the last month or so — and especially so after Max Allegri did his own return to Juventus late last month.

From Juventus’ official website:

Alvaro Morata has officially extended his loan agreement at Juventus from Atletico Madrid: the Spanish forward will wear the black and white jersey until 30 June 2022.

Morata will, therefore, continue to play in his home. It is in his every home where he has made a total of 137 appearances (79 as a starter), scoring 47 goals and serving 27 assists.

Morata, who will turn 29 come late October, is coming off one of the best seasons of his roller coaster ride of a career. He clearly enjoyed being back in Turin — especially early in the season when he was absolutely on fire, so much so he was scoring goals regularly despite his tendency to no stay onside — and was crucial to Andrea Pirlo’s side seeing as he was the only true No. 9 on the roster.

Morata finished with 20 goals and 11 assists in 43 games in all competitions this past season.

At 28 years old, Morata is what he is. He is a streaky striker. He can be a frustrating striker. (Just ask Spain fans after the showing against Sweden on Monday.) He can score more offside goals than onside goals at times because he just has a knack to do that.

But Morata, at €10 million, is probably about as solid of a transfer as Juventus will make this summer simply because they’re not breaking the bank for a talented player. Say what you want about his flaws, but he has had some of his best years at Juventus, and it’s clear that when he’s happy and clicking as a striker, good things happens.

Who knows what will happen come this time next summer when Juventus has an even bigger decision to make, but for now Morata is going to be wearing bianconero for at least one more season — and that’s not a bad thing.