Morata to United could get complicated
Jose Mourinho is in a tough spot, as he is trying to reinforce the striker position without breaking the bank. After the Griezmann deal shut down and Everton placed an insane transfer fee on the head of Romelu Lukaku, Morata seems like the former Real Madrid managers best bet.
After an arguably successful 2016-17 campaign from Manchester United and new manager Jose Mourinho, the Red Devils are in a bind. As of now, the Portuguese managers’ first-team striker is young Marcus Rashford. Last season, Mou was able to pull off the transfer of the year, signing an aging Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer. This was a class move, because Ibra could give them a couple seasons of consistent production while mentoring younger strikers like Martial and Rashford.
But as they say, “the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.” Zlatan tore his ACL in a Europa League quarterfinal fixture against Anderlecht in Brussels, an injury that will see him on the bench until at least January. Fortunately for United, this happened at the end of the season. Since the injury, the club have announced the Swede is not in the clubs future plans. His European career is probably over.
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The Devils have an incredible amount of resources at their disposal, the most in the Premier League. Shortly after the Zlatan injury, rumors started swirling that the Manchester giants were interested in a blockbuster move for Atletico Madrid superstar Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann was also showing interest, and it seemed like a match made in heaven.
However, Atleti got hit with a transfer ban until January, so Griezmann extended his contract at the Vicente Calderon through 2022. United were then interested in acquiring Everton striker and Golden Boot runner-up Romelu Lukaku. After Everton slapped a ridiculous $100 million transfer fee on the Belgian, basically every club showing interest faded away. Everton made it clear they want their star man at Goodison Park.
Now, United have their eyes on Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata. The two sides have reportedly agreed on a move in principle, for a fee of around $90 million. The Madrid striker is frustrated with a lack of playing time at Real Madrid, currently the second attacking option behind Frenchman Karim Benzema.
Real Madrid might be the only club in the world where Morata would be a second option. The Spaniard scored an incredible 20 goals in just 19 starts last term for the Blancos. He also converted a remarkable 27.3% of his shots into goals. There is a reason he was the first-team striker for Italian powerhouse Juventus for a couple of seasons.
Morata is more expensive than Mourinho had hoped. That’s because Real Madrid don’t really want to get rid of him. He is a born-and-bred Madrileno, and is the clear heir apparent to the number 9 position after Benzema is gone. United hoped to get a deal done this week, but with Madrid becoming increasingly selfish with the striker, the deal might not be so close to being finalized.