On July 19, AC Milan announced the signing of Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid after exercising his release clause. Becoming the first arrival of the summer and the replacement for Olivier Giroud, what should the Rossoneri fans expect?
The summer transfer window has been somewhat slow for Milan, so far at least. Unlike last year, the Rossoneri have only finalised one signing come the end of July, even if a few deals are reported as being very close.
The one singing they have completed, however, is the latest captain to have lifted the Euros trophy, namely Alvaro Morata. The Spaniard has joined the red and black after leading his country to the finish line as the starting striker and captain during the tournament.
The deal ended up costing the Rossoneri €13m as they triggered his release clause, and Alvaro himself signed a deal until 2028 with an option of an additional year. He chose the number 7 shirt, which was kindly given to him by Yacine Adli, who now has taken over the number 94.
The background
Born on October 23rd, 1992 (31 years), in Madrid, Morata has always been attached to that city. He was initially part of the Atletico Madrid youth academy in 2005, before joining the Real Madrid youth academy in 2008. He made his debut with the Los Merengues in late 2010, following two successful seasons with Real Madrid Castilla (their second team). It was in a 3-1 win vs. Real Zaragoza.
In the time that followed, Morata constantly tried to break through the first team but was juggled around with the B team, due to Real having superstars such as Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain in the squad.
He got his first competitive goal for Real Madrid on November 11, 2021, scoring the winner in a 2-1 win against after entering the pitch in the 83rd minute. At this point, he started to become a regular in the first-team squad but still struggled to get into the starting lineup.
Despite that, Alvaro always made himself available to the coaches and turned up whenever he was needed. This rewarded him with the La Liga title in 2012 and the Champions League trophy in 2014 against Atletico Madrid. He featured in the final, replacing Benzema for the final ten minutes of normal time and then playing the whole extra time too.
However, Alvaro wanted more game time and thus ended up joining Juventus in the summer of 2014 for €20m. This was his first of two spells with the Bianconeri. In both spells, he won two Serie A titles, two Coppa Italia titles and one Supercoppa Italiana as well as scoring in the 2015 UCL final (the equaliser goal at the time) which Juventus went on to lose 3-1 to Barcelona. Let’s hope he can win his third Scudetto with Milan now and thus give us that famous second star.
In between his two Juventus spells, Alvaro was brought back by Real Madrid after a successful first spell in Turin but once again failed to find consistent game time in the Real Madrid side. Despite this, he still won another Champions League and La Liga title, as well as the Club World Cup and the Uefa Super Cup.
![Alvaro Morata Real Madrid](https://icdn.sempremilan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/real-sporting-de-gijon-v-real-madrid-cf-la-liga.jpg)
As he was not getting enough game time at Real again, Alvaro decided to move to the Premier League this time around, getting a transfer to Chelsea for a fee around the €60m mark. This was the same summer he was heavily linked with Milan, in that infamous summer of Marco Fassone and Max Mirabelli.
Alvaro was one of the targets for Milan but due to his price tag, negotiations never materialised. The striker’s spell at the London club was underwhelming. His debut was a nightmare, missing in the penalty shoot-out during the Community Shield, which Chelsea went on to lose to Arsenal. Following that, he struggled to adapt and score goals, ending his time in England with 16 goals in 47 appearances but he still left England with one FA Cup and one Europa League trophy.
After the stint in England, the striker returned home to Madrid to get his career back on track. The only difference, this time around, he was joining the club where his footballing journey started at, Atletico Madrid. He joined the Colchoneros in the middle of the 18/19 season. He stayed at Atletico for just over a year, during which he scored that famous goal at Anfield to knock Liverpool out of the Champions League in the round of 16.
During Covid, he had his second stint at Juventus as the Bianconeri management saw him as the perfect man to play alongside Cristiano Ronaldo. This time around, his stint was not as successful and with the Bianconeri being in a crisis themselves, they decided not to make the transfer permanent and therefore sent him back to Atletico.
Alvaro has been what we call in football terms a ‘journeyman’, having played for some of the biggest clubs in Europe and won everywhere he has been. He has had a ping-pong-type career, having had two spells at Juventus, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
Strengths
Morata’s style of play is not of a typical ‘in the box poacher’ number 9. Alvaro loves being involved in the play, frequently dropping in deep to receive the ball with his back turned on the goal and linking up the attack with the midfield/ wingers.
He is a very intelligent player and technically gifted. With time and experience, Alvaro has mastered how to find the right spaces and to best use his teammates too when his team is attacking. This is something that can hopefully unlock the Milan wingers in the new season as with Giroud, we did not have that movement up top.
Heading is another strong skill set in Morata’s game. Whether that is to hold the ball down or try to score with a header, he rarely gets beaten in the air. Last season, his aerial success rate was 83%, one of the highest in the top 5 leagues among the strikers.
![Alvaro Morata](https://icdn.sempremilan.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/fbl-esp-liga-atletico-madrid-villarreal.jpg)
He also had more shots recorded with his head last season compared to his weaker foot (left foot). This really symbolises how Morata’s strength in the air can be a weapon that the Milan team can utilise next season.
As mentioned previously, Alvaro is a winner. Upon joining Milan, Morata is now the most successful active player in Serie A. His trophy cabinet is very impressive so let’s hope he can bring that winning mentality into the dressing room and something some fans felt we may have lost following Giroud’s farewell.
Finally, Morata is a leader. He is no longer that young, timid player who embarked in Italy for the first time 10 years ago to play for Juventus. Since then, Alvaro has now represented some of the biggest clubs at the highest level, captained his country to a Euro 2024 triumph and therefore has become a leader and someone who can give that push to the team when it needs it most.
Areas to improve
Although Morata is coming to Milan with a lot of great qualities, there are a few areas he can improve on during his time here which would benefit him and the team.
Firstly, he has an awful record with offsides. Despite being very good at reading the game, due to his lack of pace, sometimes Morata lets himself go a little before the pass which has cost him being caught in an offside position numerous times last season. If he can understand his Milan teammates better, and when they will play to him, he can really improve this.
Another weakness is the already mentioned pace. This is not necessarily a weakness for the team, though. With the likes of Rafael Leao, Noah Okafor, Christian Pulisic and Samuel Chukuweze around him, and if Paulo Fonseca manages to utilise Morata’s strengths well, this weakness of his may never become an issue.
Finally, we have the goalscoring record. Although he has scored many goals in his career, it sounds absurd to think that he never hit more than 15 league goals in one season. Although he will be able to unlock Milan’s wingers to get in better positions to score due to his selflessness, it would be great if Alvaro worked on his own game too to try and add more goals to it.
Conclusion
To conclude, for the price that has been paid, this is an incredible deal considering the void that Giroud has left and how hard it could have been to replace his leadership/winning mentality. That, plus the fact that Morata is coming off the back of a Euro-winning campaign as captain and having had previous Serie A experience, one can understand why Zlatan Ibrahimovic got involved to convince him.
His winning habits, with the addition of his leadership skills, give a déjà vu of when Milan signed Giroud three years ago. Let’s hope that, just like Oli he wins a Scudetto in his debut season (with a derby brace).
Having been linked to the red and black colours a couple of times in the past, let’s hope that he has joined us now instead of before because now is the right time for both parties to see success together.
Transfer Rating: 8/10
Great summary. We need a winner/leader like him in the team now more than ever – something Zirkzee didn’t offer at all.
You fool.
Zirkzee has never played for milan how do you know what sort of player he would have been for milan.
I don’t know what sort of leadership you saw in moratta that no one else saw
BTW morotta is a bang average player.
Zirkzee would have been 10x whatever moratta thinks he is
Honestly who effin cares
Once he scores a few goals the fans are gonna start signing about morata
Admittedly, this is an excellent purchase for the price and what the player can potentially bring. However it also signals the intention of management too (good and bad). They wanted more certainties up front as well as experience. And it’s basically a mirror image of Giroud. Not my first pick but at that price….
Over the last year and change we heard people and the media throw the term MoneyBall around. Mostly people and especially the Italian media who don’t even understand what they are talking about. They think Moneyball is buy low-sell high so the big bad Milan owners can line up their greedy pockets.
Moneyball is buying undervalued, under appreciated players who will give you the same production as an overpriced, overhyped, overvalued player for the fraction of the cost. The Morata signing is a perfect example of a MoneyBall signing.
Let’s make comparison.
– Osimhen.
His transfer to Napoli cost 77.5 million. In 4 years at Napoli he has scored 76 goals (6 from penalty) and provided 18 assists. That’s an average of 19 goals per season in all competitions, and 4.5 assists. = 23.5 goal contributions per season.
– Vlahovic.
He cost Juventus 83.5 million, plus has the highest salary in the league. In the last 4 years between Fiorentina & Juve, he has scored 82 goals (17 penalties) and provided 15 assists. That comes up to 20.5 goals per season and 3.75 assists. = 24.25 goal contributions per season.
If we look just at his Juventus numbers, in 2.5 years he has scored 41 goals and 9 assists. That’s 16.4 goals and 3.6 assists = 20 goal contributions per season for Juve after they paid 83.5 mil for him.
– Giroud.
In 3 years as a Milan player, after he was bought for a whopping 4.8 mil and 3.5 mil a year salary, Giroud scored a total of 49 goals (11 penalties) and provided 20 assists. That’s 16.3 goals per season and 6.6 assists. = 22.9 goal contributions.
Giroud for just about the same amount of time has been more productive that Vlahovic after his big money transfer.
– Morata.
In 4 years, between Juve and Atletico, Morata has scored 69 goals (5 penalties) and dished out 29 assists. That’s 17.25 goals per season and 7.25 assists. = 24.5 goal contributions per season, the most of all 4 players.
Morata in the last 4 years has scored 6 less non penalty goals than Osimhen and only 1 less than Vlahovic. But hype around Vlahovic and Osimhen because of their transfer fee will make you think that they are a prolific goalscorer who guarantee you 20+ goals per season. The numbers don’t back that up.
Stop judging players based on how much they were bought for and the media and fan hype behind them. It’s all about production, and over the last 4 years, even though he played for defensive minded coaches like Allegri and Simeone, Morata has been more productive than players that cost 6 times more than him.
There is only 1 player in serie A who will guarantee you 20+ goals every season, and that is Lautaro Martinez, who inter bought for just 25 million.
Last 4 years Lautaro has scored 99 goals ( 11 penalties) and 33 assists. That’s 24.75 goals per season and 8.25 assists. = 33 goal contributions per season. He was not just the only player In serie A who scored more than 20 goals last season (24), but the only player who scored more than 16.
Lautaro is currently top 5 player and the best striker in the world.
Morata wasn’t my top choice, but he is a great pick up by Milan. His past production doesn’t guarantee future production, but buying a player who cost 50 mil+ and is hyped by fans doesn’t guarantee production either, as is the case with Vlahovic and Osimhen.
Well said!
This would’ve been a great post and vindication of MoneyBall if Morata was indeed our first choice.
It was evident that the first choice was Zirkzee, who has inferior goal contribution. Morata is a great player and IMHO the best choice amongst the ones linked – but he is definitely an afterthought.
This. Been saying this over and over again. It’s crystal clear Morata was not our first choice. If his price is somewhere around 20-25 mil, I doubt the management even thought about him.
And the fact that the character between Zirkzee and Morata is entirely different, that’s the more concerning issue.
nah mate. that was a bait. they baited fans with Zirky so when we got morata w be like. mhm, ok.
the club knew they didnt have the money for Z, man. it was all smoke and mirrors
You’re missing the fact that Osimhen had serious injuries last season and it affected his game and Napoli had problems too:Spaletti gone, one mediocre coach changed another during the season etc. Also judging this stats looks like Morata is a better forward than Osi. You’ll never find a person with minimal understanding of football that will agree with this statement. Nothing is guaranteed off course, but I wouldn’t even put Osimhen and Morata in the same league when it comes to scoring. 11 goals with prime Juve that’s Moratas best result in Seria A. I agree with your last paragraph, just wanted to say you can use stats, but without context they don’t mean much.
Injuries or lack of is an important factor when talking about strikers. Or players in general.
Ofc osi has potential to surpass morata but atm he is behind.
With him winning the Euros It will be a big push for him to even perform better than his previous seasons. 15+ goals and 8+assissts should be double for him.
I just hope we can get a DM before any other position. Our defense was bad last season but let’s not forget the injuries we had in that department. So I really hope our next buy is a DM unless Thiaw is sold
Not complaining about him but we could of had an equally capable CF who has much better scoring record in Mehdi Taremi on a free transfer. Same age and lower wages but he joined our bitter rivals instead. I genuinely do think he would of been a wiser replacement for Giroud giving us better financial flexibility to spend big on younger more capable CF. Anyhow, best of luck to Morata, I hope he does well for us.
True, already said the exact same thing about this too. It’s clear that the management didn’t think about bringing in experienced striker for Giroud replacement at the first place. What we sought was the likes of Zirkzee to Sesko who have this high ceiling of growth.
Not saying Morata is a bad choice, but he’s here simply because the low release clause rather than being a targeted first-choice move.
Near past – scoring record of Morata is clearly better, Taremi had some good scoring seasons of course but also never played in a top 5 league.
We tried but his entourage changed terms at the last minute back in Jan, think relations kind of died after that unprofessional decision by his team
For those who believe that a squad consisting only young and promising player could actually win a title is dumb
So you think moratta is going to win you a title.
Did you start watching football for the euros. Have you seen the history of this guy.
Wrong choices in all area, last year we hope this year will be our new era, more strength, more dangerous, full off victories and success,
but now it seems will be fade away soon after the competition begins.
Poor Milan, why u always got an funny owner now….
The fact we dont play wingers coming in but pass into the CF is what make us dream for Zirkzee but some funny comedy writers here make a joke when our management is dumb enough to loose the bid even after making an announcement.
I hugely suspect some people understand English. Problem is not Morata being signed but it was told since last 3years a young and talented CF will be signed which is not done but replaced by a 32y(soon to be in 2months and Giroud,Zlatan case is different wiyh regards to club situation) who cant play 90mins to his national team. So we are obliged to buy another striker anyway.
Which club management announce the signing and say he is shit player after they loose him(not capable of signing him).
Just write whatever you want.