Alvaro Morata Manchester United deal inches closer amid reports private jet flew from Madrid last night
Real Madrid striker closing in on £63million switch to Old Trafford as United target Spanish striker
A PRIVATE jet from Madrid has landed in the UK amid growing speculation Alvaro Morata is closing in on his move to Manchester United.
United have been locked in negotiations with Real Madrid trying to thrash out a £63million move for the Spanish international striker.
And a private plane landed in Manchester on Wednesday night, sparking increased talk Morata had arrived to undergo a medical.
It is unclear whether the former Juventus star was actually on board the plane or not, but a deal between United and Real is now understood to be close to agreement.
Morata broke off from his honeymoon earlier this week to fly back to Madrid in order to try to sort out his future.
He had hoped he would have finalised whether he was moving to the Premier League or not before he married Alice Campello in Venice earlier this month.
But Jose Mourinho has suffered frustration in pursuit of his main striking target with Real refusing to budge on their £70m valuation.
And now there are suggestions Real are trying to force United into a bidding war by increasing their asking price closer to £80m.
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United have held firm until now, believing the £63m package they have put on the table for the 24-year-old is a fair offer.
But the pressure on executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to deliver the player before the team report back for pre-season training is growing.
United boss Mourinho said he wants to have his summer targets delivered and available to him before the club fly to America on July 8th.
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.
At present the club have only completed the signing of Swedish defender Victor Lindelof from Benfica.
But the need to add new faces to the squad is obvious for Mourinho, particularly up front following the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from his plans.
With Wayne Rooney set to be discarded if a buyer can be found, the United squad is limited in options with Marcus Rashford the only out-and-out striker.
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