Juventus: Can Alvaro Morata be an elite secondary option?
Juventus forward Alvaro Morata has been a huge hit in his second stint in Turin, but is his excellent form sustainable?
Cristiano Ronaldo is far and ahead of the pack when it comes to Juventus’ goal-scorers in Serie A, as his 12 goals are three times more than the man in second. But that man in second place Alvaro Morata, happens to be Juve’s leading goal-scorer in the Champions League this season with six to Ronaldo’s four.
Morata has been a revelation through the first 13 Serie A matches for the Bianconeri. Juventini saw what he could do first-hand in his first stint with the club, as he was the striker when Juve made it to the Champions League Final against FC Barcelona.
But Morata’s star faded after poor performances with Chelsea and a mediocre spell with Atletico Madrid. He is currently on loan in Turin from Atleti, but there’s a real chance he earns himself a permanent deal, based on his astounding numbers thus far.
Morata has 16 goal contributions in 17 appearances across all competitions, meaning he’s averaging nearly one goal or assist per match. That’s incredible production, making Morata an obvious upgrade over Gonzalo Higuain.
Paulo Dybala was the secondary superstar to Cristiano Ronaldo in 2019-2020, though you could even argue that he was the more important player, given that he won Serie A’s official MVP.
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This season, injuries have derailed Dybala’s season. La Joya has been anything but a gem, scoring just one goal in Serie A and then one goal in the Champions League. He hasn’t looked half as good as he usually is, but, thankfully, Morata has been there to pick up the slack.
Dybala will surely return to his best form soon enough, which raises further questions about Morata. We are talking about a striker who has never scored more than 15 goals in a single league season and has hit 10 goals just three times in his career.
But this season, Morata is on a torrid pace and is already close to breaking his career-high seven assists set in 2015-2016 in the final season in his first stint with the Bianconeri.
The real question is, can Morata maintain being the secondary scoring option for Juventus behind Ronaldo? And can he really be an elite player worth the 45 million euros required to sign him permanently from Los Rojiblancos in this difficult economy?
Morata has never been a truly great striker. His start to the 2020-2021 season has been nothing short of phenomenal, however, and you can easily argue that he is playing the best football of his career right now. Yes, better than his performances in his first period in Turin.
We need to see sustainable success from Morata before making a call. For example, he had three goal contributions in a 4-0 win over Parma. But in the three of the other last four Serie A matches, Morata did not register a goal contribution. He was a substitute in one of those appearances and was subbed off in another, but his performance against Atalanta is a reminder of some of the bad habits Morata still has.
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Juventini should be very pleased with Morata. And he doesn’t have to be elite to find a long-term role in Turin. That said, we should be realistic about Morata’s talent and some of his issues throughout his career. He’s a good fit for Juve alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, but if anyone gets the idea that they can skip out on a Dybala renewal since Morata can carry the load as the secondary star forward, then they are mistaken. Dybala is the elite secondary scoring option; Morata is just a guy who can bring it all together.