Replace Olivier Giroud, AC Milan Officially Recruits Spanish Captain Alvaro Morata

Spanish captain Alvaro Morata left Atletico Madrid to join AC Milan. (X/@SEFutbol)

JAKARTA - AC Milan officially recruited striker Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid. Even though he is 31 years old, Morata has received a long contract, which is four years with the option of an extension of one year.

Morata, captain of the Spanish national team who won Euro 2024, immediately got a new club. Milan brought Morata to replace Oliver Giroud, who has finished his contract and is now moving to the United States.

There is no negotiation process because Milan redeemed Morata's release clause for 13 million euros. With the ransom of the release clause, Atletico only needed to approve the sale of the player.

Milan also awarded Morata a long-term contract until 2028. Not only that, Milan has the option of a one-year extension for the former Chelsea and Juventus strikers.

"AC Milan is proud to announce the recruitment of Alvaro Borja Morata Mart totaling from the Atletico de Madrid club. He is the captain of the Spanish national team who has just won the European Cup. Morata signed a contract with the Rossoneri until June 30, 2028. He also got an additional one year option," the club said in an official statement.

"This Spanish hero has played 80 times in the national team by scoring 36 goals. He won the European Cup and Nations League 2022/2023," said Milan.

Even though he is a center forward, Morata does not wear the number 9 which is synonymous with the striker's number. Instead, he should wear the number 7 which once belonged to the legend Andriy Shevchenko, Alexandre Pato, Edgar Davids, Paolo Di Canio to defender Frank Rijkaard.

Morata became Milan's second signing in the era of Paulo Fonseca's new coach. Previously, the Rossoneri brought in a young right-back who was 19 Alex Gimenez, a Morata compatriot, from Real Madrid.

Morata is one of the poorest players in three major European leagues. He looked for a career in Madrid before moving to Juve. After two years playing in Italian Serie A, Morata returned to Madrid for one year and then moved to England to strengthen Chelsea.

From Chelsea, he was recruited by Atletico Madrid before returning to the old club, Juve, on loan. After playing for the last two seasons at Atletico, Morata joined Milan.

Morata won various trophies in the clubs she had strengthened. She won the Champions League twice, UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup each once.

Morata won another title, including La Liga Spain twice, Copa del Rey twice, Supercopa de Espana, twice won the Scudetto with Juve, three Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa Italiana and one FA Cup with Chelsea.

Morata scored 58 goals and made 14 assists over the past two years at Atletico. He played 154 times. Last season, he scored 21 goals in various competitions.

A brilliant performance at the club led Morata to captain La Roja at Euro 2024. But he lost to Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams. Moreover, Morata only collected one goal and assist.