Report: AC Milan Joins Juventus in Race to Bring Alvaro Morata Back to Italy

With the summer transfer dealings firmly underway, AC Milan are reportedly set to battle domestic rivals Juventus to sign out-of-favor Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata.

Morata's exclusion from Spain's World Cup squad capped off a disappointing second half of the season, as the striker only managed to hit the back of the net three times in 2018. And the latest reports from Sky Italia (via calciomercato) suggest that Morata is keen on a move back to Serie A, where he spent two years playing for Juve between 2014-2016.

With the arrival of Olivier Giroud in the January transfer window, the £58m striker - brought in from Real Madrid only last summer - found himself on the bench for the majority of the second half of the campaign. The Spaniard was only handed a run out for the final moments of the FA Cup final at the weekend and his future has been in doubt for weeks.

Earlier this month SunSport revealed that Juventus had offered Chelsea to take the striker on loan for three years, with the option to buy for £52.8m after the loan period ends.

Chelsea will likely wait for a permanent deal though, as they eye up replacing Morata with Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski.

The Polish international is at the top of Chelsea's wish list, and the departure of Morata will free up more funds to bring in the world-class striker. Both Lewandowski and Morata played 48 games last season - with Bayern's leading man eclipsing Morata's tally of 15 with 41 goals in all competitions.

Speculation has grown as Morata's agent Beppe Bozzo was reported to be in Milan, and with his Italian wife pregnant, there are reasons for him to think about a return.

As Chelsea look to push for another Premier League title they will need their leading man to be reaching milestones similar to Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah next season. So Chelsea will want to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

With Morata looking to be on his way out of Stamford Bridge, whoever wears the No. 9 shirt for Chelsea next season needs to start finding the net regularly–something Lewandowski seems to do with ease.