25/04 - 20:00
Spain striker Alvaro Morata has completed a move back to Juventus from Atletico Madrid for a loan fee of €10 million that could be made permanent for €45 million.
Should Serie A champions Juventus activate that option at the end of the 2020/21 season, combined fees for Morata could rise from £110 million to £160 million, making him the fourth most expensive player of all time in combined transfer fees behind Neymar (£279m), Cristiano Ronaldo (£207m) and Romelu Lukaku (£198m).
Juventus have completed the signing following their failure to land Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, and the loss of €90 million signing from Napoli, Gonzalo Higuain, on a free transfer to Inter Miami.
Morata started life between Madrid team’s academies, switching between Atletico, Getafe, and finally Real, where he was used sparingly in his four year spell, but scored some huge goals that helped Madrid to a league title and Champions League during his time at the club.
Juventus paid €20 million for the striker in 2014, who again made a name for himself as a big time substitute, scoring 27 goals in 93 games over the course of two seasons, with many of them of huge importance.
Real Madrid exercised their buy-back option on Morata for €30 million, where he again helped them to another league title and Champions League, before Chelsea offered an eye-watering club record fee of £60 million for the striker, who failed to settle at Stamford Bridge, with 24 goals in 72 starts.
Morata then returned to his first ever club, Atletico, last season, and was a regular starter for the first time in his career, but Atleti have struggled to turn down an offer from Juve, with a sell to buy policy meaning they need to make room for the purchase of former Juve target, Luis Suarez.
The striker merry-go-round looks like it still needs time to settle, with Suarez’ status still up in the air, but for Morata, he returns to a club where playing alongside the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Dejan Kulusevski and Paulo Dybala, he might struggle to settle once again.
💰Highest combined transfer fees of all time:
— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) September 21, 2020
£279M💷: Neymar
£207M💷: Cristiano Ronaldo
£198M💷: Romelu Lukaku
£160M💷: ❔ALVARO MORATA❔
£152M💷: Angel Di Maria
£152M💷: Zlatan Ibrahimovic
£147M💷: James Rodriguez
£145M💷: Philippe Coutinho
£143M💷: Gonzalo Higuain#Juventus pic.twitter.com/mggksC64qj
