Arsenal ‘like’ Alvaro Morata and could make a move in the summer transfer window, with Atlético Madrid happy to get rid of him.
That’s according to journalist Nicolo Ceccarini, who says the Gunners will face surprise competition from current club Juventus.
Morata is on loan with the Italian giants but has struggled to impress, finding himself down the pecking order after the January arrival of Dusan Vlahovic.
They have an option to turn his loan deal into a permanent one, but it’s unlikely they will take it up at the end of the season.
According to him, Max Allegri ‘values’ the striker and would like to keep him, so Juventus have come up with a solution to try and make that happen.
They want a discount on the €35m clause they agreed two years ago and would prefer to pay a figure of around €15m plus bonuses.
Whether Atlético would accept such a fee isn’t mentioned, but it is made clear that the striker isn’t in Diego Simeone’s plans, so they are happy to sell.
Arsenal, then, have competition for the striker’s signature should they decide to move this summer.
On the one hand, it’s easy to imagine Morata preferring Juve over them, but the advantage Arsenal may have is their willingness to pay more than Juve.
That could put them at the front of the list as far as Atlético are concerned, although it remains to be seen what their asking price is first.
