Morata pictured talking with Juventus director, who may offer Higuain in exchange

UPDATE: Sky Italia (via CalcioMercato) claim that this meeting was pure coincidence. Morata went shopping with agent (who does that?) in Milan’s famous shopping district and just happened to bump into Juve’s sporting director, who also just happened to be in Milan (as opposed to Torino). Imagine Paratici’s complete and utter surprise when he looks up from his bowl of [stereotypical Italian food] and sees his coveted striker just walking by with his agent! What are the odds!

PREVIOUSLY:

Earlier today, Chelsea striker Álvaro Morata was spotted in Italy, Milan to be specific. That’s not altogether that surprising, since his wife is Italian and he himself loves the country, but this was hardly a non-business occasion for the 25-year-old. In fact, as the actual picture proves, he and his agent Giuseppe Bozzo were talking with Juventus technical director Fabio Paratici.

A player, an agent, and a director? Hard to misinterpret this situation, especially when considering the last couple months’ of growing rumors regarding Morata’s potential return to the Old Lady.

Previously, these rumors have failed to present a palatable financial arrangement (a lowball loan-to-buy a la Juan Cuadrado should be a non-starter), but according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Juve might have an ace up their sleeves.

Juventus are apparently open to selling Gonzalo Higuaín, who is reportedly drawing interest from Paris Saint-Germain. While they are aware that it would be impossible to recoup the €90 million they spent on Higuaín two years ago, they are hoping to get around €60 million, which could help directly fund a Morata bid. Another avenue that could be explored by the Bianconeri is offering Higuain to Chelsea, should Maurizio Sarri take over. This may make more than a modicum of sense, given that pair worked together at Napoli in what was Higuain’s most successful season (38 goals in 42 games) in 2015-16.

Previously, we were quite confident that Chelsea would not consider selling our record signing after just 12 months on the job, but it’s hard to argue against an actual picture-proof. Player power rules the day, and if Morata wants to leave, the club’s hands are somewhat tied. Best we could do is make the most out of the situation, and while there’s clearly a joke about Higuain’s weight in there, he could probably score a fair few goals for Sarri’s Chelsea (which in and of itself isn’t a foregone conclusion just yet).

Stay tuned!