Manchester United £70m bid for ace Alvaro Morata – as Real Madrid hold out for £10m more from Jose Mourinho
Spanish striker is United's No 1 target this summer but Los Blancos are playing hardball
MANCHESTER UNITED have had a £70MILLION bid for Alvaro Morata rejected by Real Madrid, according to reports.
Los Blancos are playing hardball for United's top target and will demand the Premier League club pay more.
According to Goal, Real president Florentino Perez is holding out for another £9m - although Morata is expected to arrive at United on Thursday.
The 24-year-old striker is currently on holiday - having got married and gone on honeymoon last week - and has his heart set on moving to Old Trafford.
Morata does not want to join Real Madrid for pre-season and wants a deal set in place by then.
His agent has also held showdown talks in an attempt to force his way out of the Bernabeu.
Jose Mourinho is also desperate to have the deal ready in time for Manchester United's pre-season tour of the US.
The squad will fly out to America at the start of next week, with their first game against LA Galaxy on July 15.
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Alvaro Morata factfile
- Alvaro Morata, aged 24, was born in Madrid, Spain, in October 1992.
- He spent two years at Atletico Madrid’s academy before moving on to Getafe and then Real in 2008, still a junior player.
- Morata made his debut for Real in August 2010, scoring against Castilla.
- He joined Juventus in July 2014 for £17.5million but Real retained an option to buy him back.
- After scoring 27 goals in 93 games in Italy, Real bought Morata back for £26million in 2016.
- Last season he managed 20 goals for Real, his best return.
- He made his international debut for Spain in 2014 and has nine goals from 20 games.
- Morata is a complete modern striker, who is strong on the ball, has energy and pace, and at 6ft 2in is also lethal in the air.
- Could he be a fantasy football favourite? Sign up to Dream Team now
The report states that this is the third bid United have made for the striker, who scored 20 goals in all competitions despite limited playing time.
Real Madrid have previously seen £61.5m and £70.2m bids rejected.
Mourinho has been hugely frustrated so far this summer, with only one major signing - Victor Lindelof - arriving so far.
Moves for a host of stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Antoine Griezmann, Fabinho, Michael Keane and Renato Sanches have all ended in failure.
