Manchester United want Alvaro Morata
There’s no question that Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s knee injury is a big blow to Manchester United. That doesn’t mean Jose Mourinho is sitting around in tears though. Instead, the Special One is already hard at work to purchase a striking upgrade.
The object of Mourinho’s affection is Real Madrid outcast Alvaro Morata. He may not be able to dislodge Karim Benzema in Zinedine Zidane’s lineup, but that doesn’t seem to bother Mourinho. He knows Morata well from their previous time together. He gave the Spanish striker his senior debut with Los Blancos back in 2010.
As a result, Spanish sources insist that Mourinho has called Morata personally to begin his recruitment to Old Trafford. United’s main competition in the transfer race figure to be their Premier League rivals Chelsea. Antonio Conte has a fair amount of history with the striker as well. The two worked together with great success at Juventus.
In the end, expect the race for Morata to come down to potential playing time. He’s made plenty of money at Real Madrid, but has never been able to call the striker position their his own. When he moves this summer, it will be to a club where he can unquestionably be the manager’s first name on the team sheet.
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That might give United an advantage over the Blues. Ibrahimovic’s injury leaves a gaping hole at the top of Mourinho’s attack. Marcus Rashford would like to make the position his own, but it isn’t Mourinho’s style to hand such responsibility to a young player.
Chelsea, in sharp contrast, will have to sell strikers to open up room for Morata. It’s possible that Diego Costa could be shipped out, but Morata won’t move to Stamford Bridge until that move is done and dusted. The last thing he’d ever want to do is move to Chelsea and be locked in a battle with Costa for the starting job.
Next: United preparing to follow the Chelsea model
Manchester United may be down a striker at the moment, but they certainly aren’t out. Jose Mourinho is already putting the full court press on Alvaro Morata to bring him to Old Trafford this summer.