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Alvaro Morata: Chelsea one team who could have challenged Man Utd – Gabriele Marcotti
CHELSEA are one of few teams who could have challenged Manchester United for the signing of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, according to European football expert Gabriele Marcotti.
Man United target Alvaro Morata scores beauty for Spain
Morata has been heavily linked with a move away from Real Madrid this summer after being second choice behind Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu.
Chelsea were rumoured to want him earlier this year but Manchester United are now reportedly close to signing the star, and a deal could happen as early as Monday.
Both sides are in the market for centre-forwards this summer, with the Blues favourites to re-sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton, as a replacement for Diego Costa.
United need a striker due to the departure of last season’s top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic following the end of his contract and a £64million deal for Morata looks to be the priority option.
Gabriele Marcotti says Chelsea are one of a few teams who could afford Man Utd target Alvaro Morata
The obvious candidate to challenge for Alvaro Morata would have been Chelsea
Marcotti was asked if any other team could hijack the move for Morata and suggested Chelsea are one of a small handful of clubs who could afford him.
“There’s always a possibility (that someone could hijack the deal),” he said on ESPN FC.
“But I think when you’re looking at those numbers for Morata, when you’re talking above that £60million range, you can probably count on one hand the number of teams that can go and do a deal.
“The obvious candidate would have been Chelsea because obviously they are in the market for a centre-forward as well.
Gabriele Marcotti does not expect Chelsea to hijack Man Utd's move for Alvaro Morata
“But they’re looking elsewhere right now with Lukaku.
“I think United feel pretty confident that they have the option of landing this.
“But I haven’t been able to confirm this end if they’ve been able to agree terms with Real Madrid.”
Morata scored 20 goals for Real last season, helping them to the La Liga title and the Champions League final win over Juventus.
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