AC Milan seem to be pushing hard to try and make Alvaro Morata their new centre-forward, but he could also play other roles too.
La Gazzetta dello Sport reported this morning that Morata has sent clear and strong messages to Milan in recent days through his agent Juanma Lopez, who made contact with the management of the club to let it be known his client wants to join.
The Spaniard would apparently be willing to cut down his salary from €6.5m net per season to €5m net in order to join, with Milan hoping an offer of around €12m would be enough to convince Atletico.
What about the role he would play? It seems obvious to suggest he would be a No.9 given that is his natural position and also the role that Milan need the most help. He is a modern striker thanks to his movement, hold-up play and even playmaking ability.
However, a secondary role is possible. Moving Ante Rebic from the left wing to false 9 role was something tried by Pioli, and with Morata the opposite could happen as he could play wider like how Origi has been used at times.
In case of emergency, the ‘double 9’ could be tried too. Pioli has already done it in the past with Ibrahimovic and Giroud playing together to try and combat teams who pack the area with a low block.
For Morata it would be déjà-vu: in 2018 he and Giroud played up front together at Sarri’s Chelsea a handful of times, albeit without a goal.
📰 The two ways Pioli could deploy Morata if he were to join #ACMilan, according to @Gazzetta_it
🤔 Thoughts? pic.twitter.com/CNWqGBQIyx
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) July 7, 2023
“In case of emergency, the ‘double 9’ could be tried too. Pioli has already done it in the past with Ibrahimovic and Giroud playing together to try and combat teams who pack the area with a low block.”
I really don’t remember this happening nor did anything positive come out of such actions 😄😁
If they can get him for a favorable fee and on affordable wages, Morata wouldn’t be a bad choice for a striker. He brings a lot to the table. He isn’t a prolific scorer but he does a lot off the ball. He works hard, he has a very good hold up and link up play and he can actually create. Also, he is pretty fast and is tall. A lot faster than Giroud.
When we look at his goal, numbers we should not forget that for most of his career he played for a defensive minded , awful football playing coaches like Allegri and Simeone.
His numbers per league.
La Liga 148 games , 56 g, 11 a
Serie A 130 games, 35 g , 29 a
EPL 47 games, 16g , 6 a
UCL, 72 games, 23 g, 11 a
Spain NT, 64 game , 30 g, 7 a.
Those numbers are nothing to sneeze at.
He is basically averaging 1 G/A contribution every other game throughout his whole career
130 games and 35 goals.. yup nothing to write home about indeed
That’s bloody awful. And even more awful if you think about the players who were feeding him! He wouldn’t be getting that kind of service in Milan so expect a 5 goal season (at max).
Is loan with option not an option?
I feel like a lot do these players we are after, that formula could be used. I’m sure there’s more to it financially and what not, but just curious why that formula has been floated for any of these rumors
Loan with option is ideal, but for the ‘selling’ club it’s the worst of both worlds; no certainty and you might lose the player on the cheap if they overperform expectations – only to be done if you really want to move a player out (would make sense for us with Origi or Rebic for example).
If Atletico don’t really want him to go, it’s not really in their interest.