Barcelona's second January signing imminent; registration remains an issue

Barcelona are closing in on their second signing of the January transfer window, with Alvaro Morata expected to join Xavi Hernandez's revolution at the Camp Nou. The Spanish forward is currently on a season-long loan at Juventus from Atletico Madrid. While the Serie A giants are open to letting him leave, they are reluctant to do so before finding a replacement.

Xavi's priority target in January was Ferran Torres, whom they signed from Manchester City for €55 million just before the start of the winter transfer window. The former Barcelona midfielder now wants to add a traditional number nine to his squad and has identified Morata as the ideal candidate.

The Spain international is keen to return to his homeland and is open to joining Barcelona despite coming through the academy at arch rivals Real Madrid. Xavi was first to initiate contact with Morata, and is keen to bring him to the Camp Nou sooner rather than later.

According to Spanish publication AS, Morata's move to the Catalan capital is "95% complete" with just a few details yet to be agreed. Barcelona are said to have a complete agreement with Juventus over taking the former Chelsea forward to the Camp Nou, while they will agree a six-month loan deal with parent club Atletico, with a view to making it permanent in the summer.

Barcelona's moves in the transfer market suggest that their financial problems are behind them, but the club's director of football has made it clear that they will need to focus on exits if they want to register their new arrivals. Torres is yet to be registered and Morata is likely to suffer the same fate if he joins Barcelona in the coming days.

"We have room to register Dani Alves, which we will do today or tomorrow. We made an exception with Ferran to sign him [without the room]. We will decide with Xavi on any more [January] signings, but there will need to be exits first. We have until the end of the month," Matheu Alemany said, as quoted on ESPN.

Barcelona president Joan Laporta suggested that the Catalan giants will be ready to compete for the best when the summer transfer window arrives, with Borussia Dortmund hitman Erling Haaland expected to be top of their wanted list. Morata's arrival, as per AS, will not change their stance. Luuk de Jong, Martin Braithwaite and Memphis Depay are all expected to make way for the duo.

Juventus, however, are expected to stall until they can identify a proper replacement for the Spaniard. Atletico's Luis Suarez and Paris Saint-Germain forward Mauro Icardi are said to be top of their list, but the high wages of both players are said to be a deterrent in completing the move.