Chelsea have reportedly had a €60m offer for striker Alvaro Morata rejected by Real Madrid, although negotiations are set to continue.
The Spaniard returned to Real this summer after they opted to exercise the buy-back clause in his contract with Juventus.
However, it has been widely expected for some time that they would merely sell him on for a profit, and that seems to be the situation as noted by Marca.
Having purchased him for €31m, the La Liga giants have insisted that they will only sell Morata for between €60m-€75m, which in turn resulted in Chelsea testing the waters with an initial offer of €60m.
Unfortunately for Antonio Conte, that bid has been rejected and now it remains to be seen whether or not Chelsea return with an improved offer and if it’s enough to persuade Real to part company with the 23-year-old.
Marca go on to explain that there are two key reasons behind why Morata would choose to move to Chelsea, the first being that it would be an opportunity to work with Conte after the Italian tactician initially signed him for Juve before leaving the club and taking up the Azzurri post.
Further, the Spanish forward has insisted all summer that he wants to be a regular starter next season, but with Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo in front of him in Zinedine Zidane’s pecking order, it’s unlikely that he’ll get his wish in Madrid.
As noted in the report, both Arsenal and Manchester United remain keen on Morata too, but it’s Chelsea who have moved first and set the bar with their €60m bid.
While Florentino Perez would arguably like to keep all of his strikers at the club next season as they look to compete on various fronts, should they receive an even bigger offer, then perhaps it will be too difficult to turn down as it will also satisfy the player’s desire too if he is promised a prominent role for his new club.