MANCHESTER UNITED HAVE seen an initial offer of £52m for striker Alvaro Morata turned down by Real Madrid, according to latest reports from Spain.
It’s believed the bid is well short of the rumoured £78m that the Spanish and European champions want for the 24-year-old.
Jose Mourinho is in the market for a goal-getting attacker owing to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s cruciate ligament injury that he suffered at the tail-end of the 2016/2017 campaign.
He may not be back in action until the autumn and with United having struggled badly to score goals last term, Mourinho has made a new striker a priority.
But, that’s easier said than done because there’s not many available. After the drawn-out pursuit of Antoine Griezmann failed and considering Romelu Lukaku is expected to re-sign for Chelsea from Everton rather than make the switch to Old Trafford, that leaves a pretty short list.
Morata may not be first-choice at the Bernabeu but he is a crucial part of the squad, enjoying his best ever season by netting 20 goals in all competitions, including 15 in La Liga.
He is in his second spell with Real, the club having sold him to Juventus in 2014 after his breakout campaign, which he finished as part of the La Decima Champions League-winning group.
After two seasons in Italy, Real exercised the buy-back option on his contract last summer, paying £26m for Morata.
So, that’s a substantial jump in price. And that’s the biggest issue facing Mourinho and United: clubs know how badly they want a striker. United are always expected to pay a premium anyway but given their current situation, clubs will be even more difficult to negotiate with.
Real may look for David de Gea to be part of any deal for Morata or dig in their heels and push United to hand over in the region of £60m – £65m.
Should United walk away and look at other possibilities, Andrea Belotti has been consistently linked to the club for a while.
The 23-year-old Italian has enjoyed an excellent time at Torino since joining from Palermo in 2015.
But he was magnificent last term, netting 26 times in 35 Serie A games. However, it’s thought he has a buy-out clause in his contract of £87.3m.
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