Álvaro Morata will be a FC Barcelona player this week. As sources very close to the negotiation have explained to AS, the operation is already “95% closed”, only missing “insignificant fringes“to close the signing of the Spanish international to FC Barcelona. In fact, already A total agreement has been reached with Juventus for the loan of the player for the next six months, as well as an agreement with Atlético de Madrid to execute a future purchase option, taking into account that the mattress team has to pay 40 million euros. euros to the Blaugrana club for Antoine Griezmann.
Thus, Morata is waiting for his agent, Juanma López, to confirm the closure of the operation to travel to Barcelona, undergo the medical examination, sign his new contract with FC Barcelona, which could join him for a minimum of 18 months with the club, and to be presented as a new player, putting himself under Xavi’s orders, in principle, after Wednesday’s Cup match against Linares.
In fact, Xavi is confident that he can already count on Morata for the Super Cup match against Real Madrid on January 12. Although, the Blaugrana coach is also aware that before being able to count on the Spanish striker, the club will have to release chips and salary mass in the squad to give a fit to the financial ‘fair play’. In addition, we are not only talking about a registration, but this January there could be a total of five registrations in the first team, since apart from Morata, Dani Alves and Ferran Torres are also on the starting ramp, to whom We must add the two players from the subsidiary, Gavi and Nico, who will have a first-team record in the coming days.
This situation forces the football director, Mateu Alemany, to roll up his sleeves from now on like never before, since he has only a month ahead to remove ballast in the current template, with Umtiti and Coutinho, two of the players with the highest chips in the squad, as the main objectives.
Xavi considers Morata (29 years old) as one of the best attackers in the world, also valuing their versatility, work capacity and experience. Hence, their incorporation has been considered a priority to give a definitive boost to the team in order to win a title this season.
The arrival of the former Real Madrid player It does not imply the dismissal of the Norwegian Erling Haaland, although the club are aware of the immense difficulty that this signing presents. The main affected by the arrival of Morata will be, on the one hand, Luuk de Jong, who will leave this January, and later, the Dutch Memphis Depay, who will be transferred in summer, since the former Lyon signed only for two seasons, So if it continued, it would be possible to leave for free from July 1, 2023, an option that is not contemplated in any case at the club.