Luis Suarez is not heading to Serie A after all. Despite being heavily linked with a move to Juventus, Suarez is staying in Spain after joining Atletico Madrid.
Instead of Suarez, the Italian champions have brought back Atleti’s Alvaro Morata to address their need at striker.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan continue to make moves — both incoming and outgoing — and speculation surrounds a couple more major deals as the transfer window heads into its last few days.
As always, SBOTOP is here to keep you updated on all the latest transfer deals and rumours surrounding Serie A.
Juventus sign Alvaro Morata as Suarez alternative
Juventus have finally landed their striker, and it’s not Luis Suarez as previously speculated. After all the drama regarding the potential Suarez deal — including his now-infamous Italian passport test — Juventus have settled on signing Atletico Madrid’s Alvaro Morata on a season-long loan with an option to buy next summer.
Suarez, meanwhile, will replace Morata at Atletico as he moves to Madrid from Barcelona.
Juventus had also been linked with Roma’s Edin Dzeko and Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik to fill their need at striker, but they instead decided to go with Morata, a player that will likely fit Andrea Pirlo’s style of play better.
Morata, 27, spent two seasons at Juventus in 2014-16 and played with Pirlo in his last season at Juve. He scored 15 goals in 63 total Serie A appearances for the Old Lady. He spent the last two seasons at Atleti, where he scored 18 goals in 49 appearances.
The Serie A 2020 odds still have Juventus as favourites to claim a ninth consecutive Scudetto this season, and the Morata deal will help them achieve that goal.
Morata has never been a prolific goalscorer — he has not scored over 15 league goals in a single season — but he is a versatile forward who is capable of linking up play. That will likely be his primary role at Juventus playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Arturo Vidal completes Inter Milan move
Another player making the move from Spain back to Italy is Arturo Vidal. The 33-year-old midfielder is heading to Inter Milan after spending the last two seasons at Barcelona.
Vidal will be reunited with Antonio Conte, who was his coach at Juventus from 2011-2014. Conte has a strong relationship with Vidal and had requested Inter to sign the midfielder upon his arrival at Milan last season.
Vidal joins Achraf Hakimi and Aleksandar Kolarov as Inter’s notable additions in this summer’s transfer window. Inter have also been linked with a move for Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante, but a deal seems unlikely.
Inter have also began to cut down the size of their squad after those new additions. They have allowed veteran centre-back Diego Godin to leave for Cagliari on a free transfer and have loaned out veteran winger Antonio Candreva to Sampdoria.
Milik, Skriniar linked with move to Tottenham
With the Morata and Vidal deals done, the big Serie A 2020 news now centres on the potential exits of two of the league’s young stars — Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik and Inter’s Milan Skriniar — to Tottenham Hotspur.
Milik looks to be on his way out of Napoli after the club spent a record fee to sign Victor Osimhen. And after his potential moves to either Juventus or Roma fell through, he remains one of the best forwards available on the market.
The 26-year-old has spent the last four seasons with Napoli, scoring 38 goals in 93 games. He has a concerning injury history — he has torn his ACL in both knees — but he is a capable centre-forward when fit. Although, he would remain a backup if he is to leave Napoli for Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Skriniar has also been heavily linked with a move to Spurs. The 25-year-old centre-back has played 105 out of a possible 114 Serie A games in his three years at Inter, but he seemingly fell out of favour under Conte toward the end of last season.
Inter have spent big on their squad over the last two seasons to give Conte the squad he needs to contend, and they can help balance the books by selling Skriniar for a large fee.
However, it remains to be seen whether Inter would sell Skriniar and further reduce their centre-back depth after already letting Godin go.
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