A prospect no longer: The future is now for Juventus' Alvaro Morata

Alvaro Morata refuses to take his future for granted. The Spanish forward had picked up a Champions League winners’ medal and commanded a €20-million transfer fee before he turned 22 this October, and yet continues to talk about his career in strikingly unassuming tones. 

His response to one journalist’s question about his prospects of a call-up to Spain’s senior national team at the beginning of this season was indicative. “I still have things to achieve with the Under-21s,” he said. “I want to break the goalscoring record at that age group.”

Even the most ardent supporter of Spain’s youth teams might have wondered why. It was not as though Morata had anything left to prove, having fired Spain to victory at the Under-21 European Championships in Israel a year previously, winning the tournament’s Golden Boot as he went. He had done the same for Spain’s Under-19 team in Romania in 2011. 

Vicente Del Bosque knew it was time for Morata to step up and make good on his potential, calling him into the senior squad for games against Belarus and Germany in November. Inside, the player must have recognised it, too. Why else would he have chosen to leave Real Madrid for Juventus this summer? 

Life had been comfortable at the Spanish club. Morata was on Madrid’s books from the age of 16, and well-loved by supporters who saw in him another home-grown hero to follow in the footsteps of Raúl. Born and raised in the city, he had a ready-made support network of friends and family nearby. 

“If things didn't go well on the field, I felt much more protected,” he told Marca this November, reflecting on how different his life was in Italy. “My parents come to Turin a lot, my girlfriend when she can, and friends from time to time... But there aren't so many people around here when things go wrong. You have to work through it by yourself.”

Well, not completely by yourself. With his affable nature, it is no surprise to see that Morata has formed new friendships with his Juventus team-mates. Fernando Llorente quickly took the new arrival under his wing, driving him around town and showing him the best places to eat in the city. 

The rest of the club has been similarly welcoming. Morata noted that he had received offers from clubs in Spain and England over the summer, but that nobody had made him feel wanted like the Italian champions.  As he told radio station Onda Cero, “Juve literally came to my house.”

He is anxious to repay such faith but adjusting to a new country and footballing culture has taken time. Morata confessed his surprise early on at the physicality of training in Italy, saying it was “as though you are preparing for war”. But gradually his role in the team has grown. He scored his first Juventus goal against Atalanta in September and has since added three more. 

Now Morata is in contention to start Juventus’s crucial Champions League game against Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night. The Bianconeri need a point to be sure of reaching the last-16, but a two-goal victory would see them leapfrog the Spaniards into first place, increasing their chance of a favourable draw. 

It is the desire for goals that might tempt Massimiliano Allegri into starting Morata. Llorente remains the manager’s first-choice to partner Carlos Tevez in most games, offering a more consistent point of reference as a target man who can hold the ball up with confidence. 

But Morata has been the more potent scoring threat, averaging 1.29 goals for every 90 minutes that he spends on the pitch in Serie A, compared to just 0.3 for his team-mate. The younger player takes more shots, creates more chances and is more likely to beat an opponent one-on-one. 

In fact, if there is anything missing from Morata’s game at the moment, it might simply be that little bit of presumption that the greatest forwards possess. His humility off the field is an admirable trait, but if the Spaniard is going to fulfil his potential, then at a certain point he needs to start believing his own hype. 

Morata believes he is getting closer. “You can see it on the pitch,” he said recently. “I'm not the kind of player who gives up when something goes wrong anymore. Not that it was ever about fear, but more a case of self-doubt.”

With age, and goals, that is fading. For Morata, the future is now.