Juventus need another year of Alvaro Morata on loan

Juventus made a few inspired loan acquisitions this summer, and one of them, Weston McKennie, has already become permanent. Federico Chiesa’s loan, which is the best of the bunch, will become permanent in the future. And while Alvaro Morata‘s loan surely won’t become permanent at a fee of 45 million euros, it is imperative that he stays in Turin for another year.

Morata, for the second time in his career, is playing his best football with Juventus. He never quite fit in at Chelsea, and although he wasn’t bad with Atletico Madrid, both Juve and Los Rojiblancos have clearly benefited from the summer move. Atleti are La Liga’s leaders with Luis Suarez up top next to Joao Felix, and Morata is helping Cristiano Ronaldo produce his finest season in Serie A to date.

While Juve’s season has not gone as planned, the blame cannot be pinned on Morata. It has been a tough season for the rebuilding Bianconeri, with Paulo Dybala’s injury issues significantly hampering the team creatively. So Morata has been key to holding it all together for Juve, because the team would simply have nothing besides Ronaldo in the attack without him up top. With no true striker, the Ronaldo and Morata duo means that much more to Juve.

The Old Lady must find a way to extend Morata’s loan for another season. This summer, there are no alternatives to Morata. There are no options at striker, with the exception of backups. The same names of Arkadiusz Milik, Edin Dzeko, and Gianluca Scamacca will be floated for yet another window. And likely, none will be signed by a cash-strapped Juve that must save every cent for a desperate midfield upgrade – namely Sassuolo’s Manuel Locatelli.

Failing to keep Alvaro Morata would lead to more headaches for Juventus

So why spend the extra money and headache on TWO strikers when Juventus can just extend Alvaro Morata’s loan deal and then worry about a low-cost backup? If Juve cannot keep Morata around, they will be stuck in a terrible spot with a glaring weakness up front, in addition to the issues in center midfield and on the left side of Andrea Pirlo’s 4-4-2.

Morata has never been a prolific goal-scorer, but he does not have to be what he is not in Turin. All he must do is score goals as a secondary or tertiary option, depending on Dybala’s health and the roles of Chiesa and Dejan Kulusevski. And on top of that, he just needs to work hard and help Ronaldo flourish, which he has done well.

This season, Morata has 16 goals and 9 assists, which is an excellent return. His eight assists in Serie A are the most on the team in that competition, and that speaks volumes to his importance in Juve’s attack. Without creative midfielders and with only Chiesa and Juan Cuadrado providing any sort of competent service, Morata’s ability to feed Ronaldo is vital to Juventus.

Again, a permanent deal of 45 million euros is out of the question for Juve in this economy. But with Suarez thriving and Adrien Silva linked to Atletico Madrid, Morata could be available for another year on loan. And if he is, Juve 100 percent have to keep him. He is a perfect fit in Turin, as we have seen for the second time in his career.