Opinion: Is Alvaro Morata the right buy for Barcelona?

Barcelona is desperately trying to sign a striker after failing to replace Luis Suarez with Memphis Depay. The former Barca manager, Ronald Koeman, decided that Suarez was too old for the club and let him go, which turned out to be a fatal error on his part. Martin Braithwaite was tried out in the first season after the Uruguyan’s departure however, it was quickly discovered that the Dane was nowhere near the Barca level and the search for a new striker was on. After failing to get a striker last season, Koeman managed to get Depay this season and even brought in Luuk de Jong on loan.

However, things did not get much better, as neither of the two players scored goals consistently and with the departure of Lionel Messi, the Catalans started to miss the goalscoring figures. Xavi Hernandez needs to change this and for that, he has decided that he will be needing a new striker. Depay will probably be moved on or shifted to the wings, whereas a traditional number nine will be taking his place. Right now, the striker who Xavi is pushing for is Alvaro Morata however, there are certain nuances to his contract and the Catalans could end up paying up to 40 million euros for the player.

Barcelona boss Xavi Hernandez is keen on signing Alvaro Morata

Currently, Morata is on loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid with an option to buy. However, the Italian side has made it very clear that they will not buy the player for the set price of 40 million euros. Thus, Barca is free to negotiate with their Spanish rivals; however, it is unlikely that they will lower the prices for them. It was originally thought that Juve would buy Morata and then do a swap deal for Depay however, trusted journalist, Fabrizio Romano, has stated that a swap deal is off the table. He has also stated that the Catalan Kings have their proposal for the striker ready and Xavi is in fact pushing for the move.

However, is this move truly well suited for Barca? The striker is currently 29 years old and has around three to four years left within him. He has already failed to impress at Juve and is currently sitting on only five goals in the league. While this is not entirely his fault and the team as a whole has been faltering, Morata has not had a standout season since 2016/17, when he managed to score 15 goals in 26 La Liga games, while battling injuries and competition from Karim Benzema. He has overall been a very average striker who scores around 10 to 12 goals per season in the league.

While that could have been acceptable had Messi been there, it is no longer acceptable now since Morata will have to take the responsibility of putting the ball at the back of the net. Depay, who is considered an underperforming striker, has already scored eight goals in 15 appearances in La Liga. Morata will be expected to do at least double that and it is hard to see him perform that well. Instead of going all-in for the former Chelsea striker, it would be wise to pick up a player like Edinson Cavani and then go for a player like Erling Haaland later on. Barca needs top talents and players like Morata would only build up the wages while not delivering the necessary impact.

Should Barcelona sign Alvaro Morata?