Fresh off winning Euro 2024 as Spain captain, Álvaro Morata has completed his move from Atlético Madrid to Milan who, in acquiring the veteran, receive solid value for the money.
After pulling out of the deal for Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee, Milan swiftly pivoted towards inking their alternative option, triggering Álvaro Morata’s €13 million release clause from
Atletico Madrid as Paulo Fonseca’s primary striker for 2024-25.
The globetrotting Spaniard has enjoyed a well-travelled career this last decade, representing prominent European clubs in Real Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea and most recently Atletico Madrid where he put together his best goal-scoring season to date with 21 tallies in 48 appearances for the Capital club.
Signing on a four-year deal through 2028 with an option for a fifth contingent on goals, and a net salary of €5 million annually, Morata will be amongst the Italian club’s top earners in 2024-25. With that, the 31-year old faces added
pressure of filling the void left by Olivier Giroud and the responsibility that comes along with it.
Though his career has been marked by periods of mixed results, there is optimism the new number 7 can become the latest veteran forward to thrive at Milan, joining Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic who proved plenty good at the back end of their respective careers.
Unlike Ibrahimovic and Giroud though, Morata enters the attacking equation in the prime of his
career at 31.
The Spain captain brings a bit different profile and offers a lot more as far as variety which will allow Fonseca to play more expansive, aggressive attacking football.
There will be emphasis on playing high up the pitch and pressing to unsettle opposing back lines, ideas familiar to Morata and his assignment under Spain Coach Luis de la Fuente.
For all the good Giroud did up top as a holdup player and header of the ball in the box, his limitations physically and inability to stretch the field with runs in behind restricted the type of
football former manager Stefano Pioli probably should have been playing.
Morata’s athleticism and mobility will enable Milan to play with more fluidity and incisively counter attack in a way more suited to the squad’s identity.
The smoother one-twos and combination play should show itself very early upon Morata’s
integration, much to the benefit of supporting wide men Rafael Leao and Christian Pulisic who
love to pick the ball up deeper and carry forward with space to exploit in 1v1 battles.
Comparatively to Giroud, Morata presents himself as an aerial threat, and one who should find
himself a prime beneficiary of Milan’s wingers serving plenty of crosses into the box.
Morata is a technically sound striker, who has a sacrificial, high work-rate and and efficient play
style. But he often experiences stretches where he can underwhelm in front of goal and go cold.
At the midway point of 2023/24, Morata was surging on his way to his best season as a professional. He looked extremely high on confidence and appeared to have silenced those who have discarded him over the years; Spanish media and fans alike. Criticism crept its way back in as he found the back of the net twice since January.
Chance creation isn’t the issue at Milan, its chance conversion. If we are being honest, this is a
fair concern to have of Morata’s arrival given the delicate nature of the role and dire need for a
production.
While he does not always pass the eye test with flying colors and tends to be a striker of the streaky variety, many of the more advanced data suggests he is joining Milan in his peak and his overall game trends in the right direction.
🇪🇸 Alvaro Morata is the only striker in the top 5 leagues to rank in the 90+ percentile for non-penalty goals, expected goals, and aerial win rate
No La Liga striker has a higher aerial win rate (54.3%) or dribble success rate (70.2%)
👉 https://t.co/09HYnEFdLz https://t.co/BOnt2Bdw61 pic.twitter.com/bwjmu5A81E
— DataMB (@DataMB_) May 24, 2024
Doubling down on the data dump, Morata’s past experiences in Italy at Juventus also support the notion that despite where he may fall short, he is fully capable of providing goals regardless of his role and the coach.
In his second stint from 2020 through 2022, Morata scored 32 goals in all, including 8 in the UEFA Champions League. Additionally, he provided a further 18 assists, lending credibility to his often overlooked chance creation for others in the team.
A key element in favor of Morata is, despite all the public vilifying, he has still managed to score enough throughout his career in pressure-packed moments and lend hand in titles. If the conversation is about winning trophies, Morata is quite familiar and something Milan yearn to
bring more of to Casa Milan.
Conclusion
Is Morata the sexy, glamorous signing for fans and wider Europe to marvel at? No, perhaps not. Is he even expected to be the full-time starter? Milan are reportedly eyeing multiple strikers to bolster depth at his position, so probably not.
Removing emotion and strictly speaking purely on total package to acquire him though, Morata
is good business for this Milan.
He should bring the necessary goal count and mobile profile, two of the top prerequisites fans expect.
He also provides Milan a solution that neither jeopardizes the remainder of the market nor
cripples the possibility of introducing a younger, long term solution with an eye towards the
future - whether that be externally or in house with prized youngster Francesco Camarda whose next season in Serie C with Milan Futuro will give us good understanding of just how far along he is in his development.
Previous reports have cited that Morata rejected multiple bids and bags of money from Saudi Arabia, as he preferred to stay in Europe.
Atletico Madrid also wished to retain him, however, Morata did not feel at ease any longer in Spain. This, amongst other family reasons, weighed heavily on his decision to return to Italy where he knows his family will be comfortable.
Morata is a bit of a unique case. Unlike Giroud and Ibrahimovic who have strong personalities, Morata is a little more reserved. A quiet leader who goes about his business as a footballer, yet is
incredibly respected by his teammates and staff as a reference point in the Spain camp.
"It is impossible to be more committed,” teammate Dani Vivian described of Morata, as relayed via The Guardian. "He finishes every game practically in tears because he feels so much responsibility, because he so badly wants everything to go well for us.”
Ahead of his transfer, Morata spoke to Sky that he was swayed to join Milan due to his "trust in
Ibrahimovic, the team and the Coach." (read full interview here).
“I cannot wait to start....I know that I have the best years of my career ahead of me and I want to go to this great club that is Milan.”
Milan have an exciting project with a new coach and a very positive club culture. In due time, there is belief fans will warm up to Morata.
Ibrahimovic’s efforts to bring him to the San Siro show us that in addition to possessing the
characteristics of a respected leader, he has the personality to withstand the pressures soon to come his way.
Morata is the embodiment of a team player. You will be hard pressed to find many more committed to a common cause of team success - even if that means less goals and glory for himself.
Removing the rose colored glasses for a brief moment, because it is easy to romanticize about
a new signing, Morata’s success at Milan will largely come down to whether he delivers goals
and signature moments that result in trophies. If he were to do that, then he will be glorified for years to come by the faithful red and black.
