Atletico Madrid keen to swap Alvaro Morata for Paulo Dybala
Atletico Madrid are keen to see Alvaro Morata remain with Juventus and are hopeful that the Serie A side will agree to swap him for Paulo Dybala.
Morata joined Juventus on loan last summer and has enjoyed an impressive season, racking up 18 goals and 12 assists in all competitions.
Juventus are keen to keep Morata around, but because of the club’s perilous financial situation, they are not expected to take up their £39m option to make the move permanent and instead are keen to re-negotiate a lower fee.
According to Tuttosport, Atletico have made it clear that they are open to discussions, but they have led with the ambitious idea of swapping Morata for Dybala, whose expiring contract continues to cast a dark shadow over the Allianz Stadium.
Dybala will soon enter the final 12 months of his deal, and despite Juve’s attempts to tie him down to fresh terms, he has continued to delay negotiations, with his lack of consistent starts under Andrea Pirlo thought to have left the Argentine frustrated.
Dybala recently confessed to Twitch streamer Ibai Llanos that he has spoken to Morata about Atleti, saying: „With Atletico I have received calls. Not directly to me, they have called the agent who works with me to talk [about my future].
„Alvaro has just come from there and has spoken very well to me about the club, the city, the people, the fans. Atletico are a big club these days.“
Juventus value Dybala far higher than Morata, but with the former flirting with the idea of leaving for free in 2022, swapping him for a player who has openly admitted his desire to stay in Turin might not be an awful idea.
“Everyone knows I would gladly stay here for life if I had the chance, but this is a profession, football is a business and a lot of the time we players don’t have much choice,“ Morata told Sky Italia.
Juventus have already explored the idea of using Dybala in a swap deal. Sending him to Paris Saint-Germain in exchange for Mauro Icardi has been discussed, with the former Inter striker also thought to be keen on making the move.