Chelsea have had a massive €75 million bid for Spanish striker Alvaro Morata rejected by Real Madrid. Napoli and Atletico Madrid have also approached Los Blancos for the highly rated 23-year old.
Real Madrid sold Alvaro Morata to Juventus in 2014 for €20 million, but his performances for I Bianconeri have prompted the La Liga giants to bring him back to the Santiago Bernabeu. The 23-year old striker scored 27 goals in 93 appearances and helped Juventus win back-to-back Serie A titles. Juve were left helpless though, as Real triggered the buy-back clause in his contract to bring their youth academy product back to the club for €30 million.
Chelsea had made a statement of intent by offering Real Madrid €75 million for the Spaniard, only for the offer to be rejected, according to Spanish radio channel Cadena SER. Atletico have also made a move for Morata, offering defender Jose Giminez in exchange in what is a baffling approach from one of Los Blancos’ major rivals. The possibility of a transfer between the two clubs is very little, and the offer of a defender for an attacking player is one that won’t be very tempting for Real Madrid.
The writing was on the wall, with Real reportedly telling Morata’s agent that he was off the market last week. The recent rejection of the Chelsea bid seems to indicate that Zinedine Zidane and the Real hierarchy are keen to keep their homegrown striker at the club. It remains to be seen what kind of role he will play, with prolific French striker Karim Benzema the current No. 1.
The return to his boyhood club has not ended the speculation surrounding Morata’s future. Los Blancos were reportedly ready to listen to offers from interested clubs including the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Old Trafford was reported to be Morata’s preferred destination, provided the club didn’t sign Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The subsequent arrival of the Swede striker ensured that United was out of the race, while Arsenal have now turned all of their attentions to the Serie A. The Gunners were most recently linked with Inter and Argentina striker Mauro Icardi.
Chelsea are still in need of a striker, as new manager Antonio Conte prefers two up front. The Blues have addressed the problem to an extent by signing Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi from Olympique Marseille. However the recent bid would mean that they are keen to add to their attacking force and will be monitoring the situation with Morata.