Alvaro Morata AND James Rodriguez ‘offered to Chelsea in staggering £133MILLION deal’ by Real Madrid
Blancos president Florentino Perez keen to get unwanted pair off the books
CHELSEA have been offered the chance to sign Alvaro Morata AND James Rodriguez from Real Madrid for £133MILLION, according to reports in Spain.
The pair had been linked with Manchester United but Florentino Perez is reluctant to sell to the Old Trafford club.
Chelsea had lost interest in top target Morata, who scored 20 goals for Real Madrid last season, believing he was set on going to United.
Mourinho and Morata were both extremely keen on the move, with the striker asking his agent to force a move out of the Bernabeu.
The United boss had promised Morata the first-choice berth he had craved.
Instead, Perez played hardball with United, rejecting two bids of £65m and £70m for the striker and demanding £80m.
The president does not like dealing with the club because of difficult past negotiations.
Previous talks threatened to disrupt deals for David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo and saw a move for David De Gea collapse two years ago.
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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.
United gave up on Morata over the steep price and instead hijacked Chelsea's move for Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.
Now Perez is desperate to sell the striker and, according to , has contacted the Blues offering a sensational two-man package.
The £133m deal being offered to the Blues pales in comparison to the £150m+ United would have had to pay to land the two players in separate moves.
Morata is desperate to leave before pre-season, giving Perez as very short window to complete a deal.
As a sweetener, the Blancos chief has also decided to offer James Rodriguez as part of the deal for Chelsea.
Rodriguez has been linked with an exit all summer having failed to live up to his billing in three seasons since joining from Monaco.
The Colombian was barely used by Zinedine Zidane last season and often came off the bench.
United are in advanced talks to sign Rodriguez, but Chelsea are being offered a big discount.
With Lukaku all but wrapped up, Mourinho is searching for another top level playmaker.
Chelsea continue to be linked with strikers with Diego Costa's future still up in the air.
As SunSport revealed, Costa could yet reconcile with Antonio Conte despite the text message row that appeared to end his time at Stamford Bridge.
Costa is keen to play in next year's World Cup and knows he must be playing first-team football in Europe, ruling out a move to China.
With Atletico Madrid under a transfer embargo, Costa has few options remaining.
The Blues have been linked to Torino star Andrea Belotti, who could cost £90m, Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez and former Man United hitman Javier Hernandez.
Swansea hero Fernando Llorente remains a serious target, but the Blues know he is a reserve, not a first-team regular.
The west London club have also been long linked with James Rodriguez, although he would seem to prefer a move to Old Trafford.
