Friday, December 31, 2021 at 09:52• Chris Meijer • Last update: 10:05

Barcelona has reached a personal agreement with Álvaro Morata on a contract until mid-2023, report Goal and Catalunya Radio. That does not mean, however, that a transition from a 29-year-old striker to Catalonia is already in place. Barcelona have yet to come to terms with Juventus and Atlético Madrid, which Morata is leasing to the Italian top club until the end of the season.

Juventus is in any case not unsympathetic to Morata’s departure. The Spanish striker returned in September 2020 for his second term in Italy, where he was previously under contract between 2014 and 2016. Juventus would transfer a €20 million rental fee to Atlético in order to be able to hire Morata for two years. And while he is generally a starting player and has already scored 7 goals and 3 assists in 23 official games this season, Juventus are looking to make financial room for another striker with his departure.

Romeo Agresti – Juventus watcher on behalf of Goal – reports that Juventus will let Morata go as soon as a replacement is found. Gianluca Scamacca of Sassuolo is one of the main candidates mentioned in Turin. In any case, Memphis Depay is not going the opposite way. The Dutch attacker was mentioned in recent days as a possible bargaining chip in a deal between Barcelona and Juventus over Morata. However, Juventus are not interested in Depay. Transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano said Depay and Ousmane Dembele’s names are currently not on the table in Juventus-Barcelona talks.

However, Juventus is not seen as the biggest obstacle in the Morata negotiations, as the Italians are willing to cooperate. Atlético – where Morata is still under contract until mid-2023 – is not really eager for a transfer from the striker to Barcelona. Catalunya Radio states that Antoine Griezmann may be a key to the talks. The French attacker is currently on loan from Barcelona by Atlético with a mandatory option to buy €40m plus €10m in bonuses, allowing the Catalans to use him in a deal over Morata.

It is not the first time that Morata has appeared on Barcelona’s radar. The now 29-year-old striker was also mentioned at the rival as a youth player of Real Madrid. However, then-chairman Josep Maria Bartomeu failed to bring the attacker to the Camp Nou at the time. Barcelona strengthened itself last week with Ferran Torres, who was taken over from Manchester City for an amount of 55 million euros – plus possibly 10 million euros in bonuses.