Jose Mourinho will reportedly sell David de Gea to Real Madrid in exchange for £22 million plus Spanish forward Alvaro Morata.
According to a report by Marca, long-time Real Madrid target David De Gea will either cost £65 million or £22 million plus Alvaro Morata as Manchester United finally name their price.
Jose Mourinho seems confident enough to let David de Gea go, which might probably mean that his pursuit of Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak proved to be fruitful. If not, then perhaps he is looking at utilizing Sergio Romero more often in the team.
Alvaro Morata progressed through the ranks at Real Madrid quickly, only to move to Juventus in search of regular football.
The Spaniard was a big hit in Turin – and netted five goals in Juventus’ run to the Champions League final in 2015, before joining Real Madrid again last year. Since then, he has only started 14 games in La Liga and yet managed to score 15 goals.
In fact, it was Jose Mourinho who handed Morata his first team debut at the Santiago Bernabeu way back in 2010. Morata has won 11 trophies, including three league titles and the Champions League, and scored 58 goals since his debut.
Morata has also managed to reach three Champions League finals in four seasons, which can prove to be handy for United next season.
The Portuguese manager is in desperate need of a striker with reports of Wayne Rooney’s departure to Everton, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s inability to play after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament during a match.
Earlier reports also suggested Manchester United are ready to trigger Antoine Griezmann’s release clause in a bid to sign the Atletico Madrid striker with whom they have been linked for quite some time now.
If that move goes through, Morata is likely play slightly ahead of Griezmann and perhaps the most obvious way to utilize both of them could be in a 4-4-1-1 formation.
However, if Mourinho doesn’t have an ideal replacement for David De Gea in mind, the move might not benefit United even if they manage to sign Morata in exchange. The Spain international will fit in United’s plans but can United afford to let go of De Gea?
