Alvaro Morata would probably sign to repeat Olivier Giroud’s exploits at Milan. Because the Frenchman had arrived with the label of world champion with France, yes, but without ever shooting on goal. Plus he had a few more years under his belt, taken at 35 from Chelsea on a free transfer, with the hope of being a good replacement for Ibrahimovic. He did it brilliantly, even managing to take the starting place for three seasons, scoring the decisive goal for the 2022 Scudetto.
Morata returned to Italy for the third time, after the two with Juventus. And he did it in a very particular summer, because he won his first major title with the Spanish national team, as captain. But not as a cover man, because he was accused of scoring very few goals, despite playing at excellent levels and opening spaces for his teammates. Immediately afterwards there was the separation with Alice Campiello, the wife with whom he had four children.
A season ago he was José Mourinho’s favorite number nine, but in the end Diego Simeone managed to keep him at Atletico Madrid, even if the intention was to return to Italy to take some pressure off. Inter themselves had also made an attempt after Lukaku’s failure to return. In the end he succeeded at Milan, in the summer, for a reasonable fee and a not extraordinary salary (4 million per year) for a center forward. The objective is Giroud’s: to beat Juventus and Inter. Alvaro Morata turns 32 today.