Manchester United are interested in signing Real Madrid’s 24-year-old striker Alvaro Morata due to Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s prolonged absence
It was Jose Mourinho who handed the youngster his first team debut for Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu way back in 2010. And now, it looks like Mourinho will be the one to extract the player out of Real Madrid.
Mourinho has been on the look out for a quality striker ever since Zlatan Ibrahimovic sustained that tragic injury, and now Morata is the latest addition on to the manager’s wishlist.
It is still too early to confirm anything, but United have already made contact with Real Madrid about the transfer.
Morata has succeeded in reaching three Champions League finals for Real Madrid, and right now, Manchester United seems like a bleak option in comparison. That is, unless the Red Devils manage to beat Ajax and qualify to the Champions League.
Doing so will not only boost United’s pursuit of Morata, but also solifidy their chances when it comes to signing players like Tiemoue Bakayoko and Jan Oblak.
As far as Morata is concerned, he got a taste of Italian football as well during his time at Juventus. In fact, he rejoined Real Madrid on a five-year deal after two seasons at Juventus, and this happened only last summer.
While that might be one reason for Real Madrid refusing to let him go, the fact is that Morata is hardly getting regular starts at Santiago Bernabeu. He has only made three late substitute appearances in the Champions League knockout stages at such a crucial time.
However, despite getting such little playing time, Morata has still managed to score about 20 goals in 40 appearances under Zinedine Zidane. Apart from him, only Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals for the Spanish club this season.
Morata’s performances soared when he was at Juventus. He scored five goals in the Italian club’s Champions League run back in 2015. He returned as a better and more competitive player to Real Madrid last summer, but unfortunately, he has not seen as many chances.
Earlier, there were also reports linking Morata to Chelsea, which comes as no surprise since Antonio Conte was the one who convinced him to play at Juventus following which, Conte became the manager of Italy.
In total, Morata has won 11 trophies, which include three league titles and a Champions League. Ever since his debut courtesy Mourinho, Morata has scored 58 goals.
If he does join Manchester United, he can actually enjoy a bigger role. Paul Pogba helps in creating chances, but when it comes to scoring goals as such, he hasn’t been too impressive. Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury has come as a huge blow, considering he was their star striker.
As far as Marcus Rashford is concerned, he was and still is important for the club as a striker ever since his debut, but the club needs another quality striker who can go out and get goals if Rashford were to be injured at some point.
