Álvaro Morata needs a three-way carom to be a Barça player before January 31. The Juventus and the Barcelona club agree (also Atlético, third party involved) and the agents of the Spanish international have also agreed the conditions with Mateu Alemany, which have not transpired but could be closed in a year and a half contract.
But for the operation to crystallize and Morata to wear the Barça shirt, Juventus must have a replacement and the Barça club must have resolved the Dembélé affair. And neither of the two cases have an easy solution. The bianconeri want to sign the Serbian Dusan Vahovic, star of Fiorentina, but they demand 70 million euros and the Turinese do not reach that figure, although the Italian media reported Monday night that the operation was progressing adequately. Vlahovic prefers to play for Juve than travel to London to play for Arsenal, but for now the negotiations are still pending and Juventus are piling up their files, because the renewal of Paulo Dybala is not closed either. Mauro Icardi is Juventus’ plan B, but the Vecchia Signora does not seem willing to assume the mandatory purchase option that PSG is demanding.
And then there is the Dembélé thing. For Barça, its downward renewal was essential because it was going to allow it to open up enough salary to sign Morata. But the matter has become entrenched and it is difficult to think that an agreement will be reached before January 31. Barça has other exit operations underway, because Neto, Iñaki Peña, Riqui Puig, Mingueza, Sergiño Dest, and even Luuk de Jong or Braithwaite could leave. But the salary margin released by any of these exits would not be enough to close the signing of Morata. The club has also considered the downward renewal of Sergi Roberto, in the style of Umtiti, to open salary mass. But, at the moment, the footballer from Reus has not seen it too clearly.
Morata, meanwhile, waits. He knows that he has Xavi’s approval, delighted with the work he does for the team and his tactical sense of the game. He is excited to return to LaLiga to play with Barça, but he is informed at the time of the talks and is aware that the options for closing the operation have been complicated since Barça broke the deck with Dembélé. Meanwhile, Xavi has already given the go-ahead for the club to speed up a plan B in case Morata is impossible. Luvas Boyé (Elche) is an option. Signing the Argentine (25 years old) would not be as burdensome as the Morata operation and the departure of players like Neto or Dest could open up enough salary margin to hire him.
