Report: Manchester United to submit improved £60M bid for Morata
Manchester United is preparing an improved second offer for Alvaro Morata worth £60 million after its initial £52-million bid was turned down by Real Madrid, according to the Guardian's Ed Aarons and Fabrizio Romano.
Morata vaulted to the top of Jose Mourinho's wish list at Old Trafford when last Thursday's decision from the Court of Arbitration - to uphold Atletico Madrid's transfer ban until January 2018 - effectively ended United's well-documented pursuit of Antoine Griezmann.
Related - Griezmann will stay at Atletico Madrid: Leaving would be 'a dirty move'
United is believed to be confident of encouraging Los Blancos president Florentino Perez to part with Morata, who returned to the Spanish capital last summer when the club exercised a £30-million clause to buy him back from Juventus. Despite often playing second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo and others in Real Madrid's stacked legion of attacking players, the 24-year-old impressed by fashioning 20 goals across all competitions in the 2016-17 term.
The potential snag in negotiations could, predictably, lie with the striker's valuation. Real Madrid apparently prices Morata closer to the €90-million (£78.2-million) mark.
AC Milan and Chelsea have also been linked with the Spaniard, but the latter's interest may have waned with attempts to broker a second stint for Everton's Romelu Lukaku at Stamford Bridge near fruition. The Belgian artilleryman claimed to have already reached an "agreement" over a transfer to an unnamed club on Tuesday.
The stories of James Rodriguez - an unfortunate exclusion from Real Madrid's matchday squad for the Champions League final decimation of Juventus last Saturday - shifting to United in a £60-million deal appear to have little grounding, with the Colombian reportedly stationed far down in the club's transfer priorities.
Alleged United and Chelsea target Paulo Dybala, meanwhile, is understood to be settled at Juventus after only signing a new contract until 2022 in April.