Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has urged Alvaro Morata to remain in Serie A, even though it appears increasingly likely the striker’s future lies elsewhere.
As reported by Standard Sport last week Real Madrid are expected to activate the buy-back clause they wrote into their initial transfer agreement with Juventus in 2014, bringing Morata back to the Santiago Bernabeu for a fee of £23.6million with the aim of starting a bidding war among Europe’s top clubs.
Manchester United and Paris St Germain are both keen on the Spanish striker but Arsenal are among the leading contenders to acquire Morata, and may be willing to go beyond the £42.4m they paid for Mesut Ozil in 2013 to acquire a new striker.
Though Morata’s goalscoring record over two seasons at Juventus is far from formidable he has developed an impressive habit of finding the net for Allegri’s side at the most opportune moments, scoring in the Champions League semi-final and final last season and netting the extra time winner in last week’s Coppa Italia win over AC Milan.
Juventus are eager to keep the striker at the club and Allegri is convinced he can offer Morata greater opportunities to develop his game.
“His goal against Milan is a sign of consistency,” Allegri told Rai Uno.
“He’s a young guy and needs to stay at Juve for a few years, he needs to grow. But I have very strong options in attack.
“This team is difficult to improve but we must try to do so, by improving the individual players.”
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Morata has struggled to carve out a starting role at Juventus over recent months, often finding himself playing a reserve role to Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic.
