Morata admits to missing Juventus: I was willing to stay many years

Alvaro Morata has revealed he would have been open to staying at Juventus for an extended period had Real Madrid not exercised its buy-back option.

Alvaro Morata won the Serie A and Coppa Italia double in each of his two seasons in Turin.

Alvaro Morata has revealed he would have been open to staying at Juventus for an extended period had Real Madrid not exercised its buy-back option.

Morata won the Serie A and Coppa Italia double in each of his two seasons in Turin and admitted he misses the former team-mates who helped him to settle at the club.

"I am not Italian, but I gave everything for the Bianconeri shirt and I was willing to stay there many years," Morata told Corriere dello Sport.

"Juventus knew that, the only problem was that Madrid had been my dream since I was little. Without the buy-back option, you would have had to drive me to get me away from Turin.

"I miss the Italian group from the dressing room - [Leonardo] Bonucci, [Andrea] Barzagli, [Giorgio] Chiellini, [Claudio] Marchisio, [Gianluigi] Buffon, they were key in my adaptation to Juventus and Turin.

"If I had come into a bad dressing room at Juventus, I wouldn't have done so well."

Morata is set to return to Italy for a Champions League last-16 tie against Napoli, the first leg of which will take place in Madrid on Wednesday, and the 24-year-old insists he is not thinking ahead to a potential clash against Juve.

"Would I sign for a Real Madrid-Juventus final? Juve are Juve and they always aspire to be the best," Morata said. "I admit I wouldn't like it, but just to be there I would sign for it.

"If I had to lose a final, I would prefer to lose against Juventus over losing to other teams. But now we need to focus on Napoli. If we think about a hypothetical final, Napoli will send us home.

"I always want to win, but I admit I would be even happier to beat Napoli because of my Juventino past."