Reports: Juventus don’t intend to let Alvaro Morata go this January

The Alvaro Morata transfer rumors went from 0 to 100 rather quickly. Maybe not to the same extent as when Morata made his return to Juventus a year and a half ago right before the transfer deadline arrived, but things were trending toward the 29-year-old Spaniard leaving the club he holds close to his heart over the next few weeks as he made his way to Barcelona.

Well, that was until Max Allegri had a chat with him.

According to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio and cohort Fabrizio Romano on Monday night, a group meeting between the Juventus board, Allegri and Morata have had talk regarding the striker’s future with Juventus. Allegri, reportedly, expressed his confidence in Morata and told the Spaniard that he wants him to stay at Juventus for the second half of the 2021-22 season. As much as rumors about what happens come season’s end seem completely up in the air depending on who you read, Allegri has voiced his confidence in Morata for two main reasons:

1. Morata is currently training very well despite all the rumors regarding his future.
2. Juventus’ search for a potential replacement if Morata were to leave has not been all that fruitful, with options looking more and more complicated to try and get done under the financial constraints the club finds itself under this month.

Di Marzio said that Juve’s prospects of signing somebody like Paris Saint-Germain’s Mauro Icardi — probably the guy who has been the most linked with the Bianconeri over the last couple of weeks, and especially so since the Morata rumors started last week — “remains cold,” with the Argentine’s high salary being a major sticking point. Romano essentially confirmed that reporting with his own tweet a short time after, saying that there’s “nothing advanced” when it comes to Icardi.

As much as this was about Morata looking now like he will stay, both Di Marzio and Romano reported that Juventus’ intentions are to do their heavy striker business come the summer transfer window. Di Marzio also reported Monday that Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca looks to be the guy they will target in June, with an attempt to hopefully try and fend off any kind of competition for his signature this month so that there’s an opportunity to bring him to Turin come the summertime.

But, for now, the tide involving Morata has turned since Juve’s search for a potential replacement very much looks like one that has come up empty to date. While the Spanish press is pretty convinced the Morata deal is still on, the general feeling from the two Italian reporters above who are pretty reliable gives off a different kind of tone. Maybe something happens and Juve get an opportunity to sign a replacement for a club-friendly price, but right now it does look like Morata is going to be around. Or at least he looks more likely to stay than he did, say ... 24 or 48 hours earlier.