It is the beginning of another summer of transfer talk and rumours with Arsenal always seeming to be at the fore front of it. The latest player to be linked with Arsenal is Alvaro Morata, and it’s not the first time Arsenal have been linked with the Juventus striker.
Last summer Morata was a key part of the Juventus team that got to the Champions League final; he was also heavily linked with a move to Arsenal then but opted to make the move to the Italian champions permanent instead. He has struggled to keep a regular starting place in the team since, amid the arrival of Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic. Due to the inconsistent playing time, he might well be looking for a team where he can be the main striker week in week out.
In the 2015/16 season he only managed to start 16 games while appearing as a substitute another 18 times in the league, contributing to a goal (goal and assists) 14 times. He played 1456 minutes on the pitch this season in the league so he is contributing to a goal every 104 minutes, which means almost every time he plays he will have a high contribution to the game. This could have been a one-off this season, but over the years Morata has always had a good goals and assists per minute ratio, which means he is obviously a consistent performer; with more starts he could score and assist even more goals.
If Arsenal were to sign Morata, he would need to start more games than he does now to be able to show off his true potential, at the age of only 23 he has plenty of time to improve.
A major downside to the signing of Morata is that there has been rumours of it costing around £50million to land him. Furthermore, Real Madrid have yet to sanction their speculated buy-back clause, although it is reported that they will, and then sell him off to the highest bidder.
The inflated price tag would be a massive gamble as he hasn’t proven himself in the English league or had a whole season as the main striker at a club. If he had started all games for Juventus and scored 25-30 goals this season, then he would merit the price but its a huge risk to pay money for an inexperienced striker when there are plenty of other strikers who have scored, and started on a regular basis.
The price tag may put Arsenal and Arsene Wenger off, but if they can find a way to negotiate a good deal for Morata then he has bags of potential and if given enough starts, he could be the striker Arsenal have been looking for. A gamble – maybe – but don’t all signings come with a slight risk?
YouTube: Álvaro Morata – Goals & Skills 2016
