Much has been said about FC Barcelona's desire to sign another striker as soon as possible, and they are reportedly courting Alvaro Morata. However, reports have emerged stating that the Spaniard's parent club, Atletico Madrid, are determined not to let their player join their direct rivals.

Morata is currently on loan with Serie A side Juventus FC, but he is still effectively employed by the reigning La Liga champions. This is a major complication to the plans laid out by Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez. After losing several key players in their front line last summer and through various medical concerns, Xavi wants a number of reinforcements.

According to Football Espana, Atletico are not keen on bringing Morata back to the Wanda Metropolitano, but that does not mean they want a player of his calibre joining the Catalan giants.
Juventus is enjoying Morata's services for now, safely a good distance away from challenging his parent club. The Turin side has the option to make the deal permanent in the summer, but with Barcelona interested in Morata, Juventus may be open to sanctioning the deal if they can get their hands on Dusan Vlahovic.

Atletico are more interested in selling Morata to other suitors perhaps in England if Juventus do not take up the purchase option. However, with Antoine Girezmann on loan to Atletico from Barcelona, a swap deal may loosen their stance on letting Morata join their domestic rivals.

Apart from the complicated situation surrounding Morata, Barcelona also made a huge gamble when they brought in Ferran Torres from Manchester City. First of all, the player is recovering from a foot fracture and it remains to be seen how well he will recover. Even if he does so quickly, Barca sporting director Mateu Alemany has admitted that the club is unable to register the player at the moment, due to the fact that they still need to free up space in their salary cap. If they fail to do so, they may have wasted money on a player that they are not allowed to use.

Alvaro Morata
Spain striker Alvaro Morata JORGE GUERRERO/AFP
Atletico Madrid Barcelona FC Real Madrid