United Identify Morata As Their Top Target To Replace Ibrahimovic
Reuters / Tony Gentile
Alvaro Morata is rumoured to be Manchester United’s top transfer target this summer, as they aim to find a replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
After the Swede’s major injury that ruled him out for the season and some part of the upcoming season, Jose Mourinho wants to sign a younger replacement for the veteran, in the form of Alvaro Morata.
The 24-year-old is a better option for the Portuguese gaffer than Everton’s Romelu Lukaku or Torino’s Andrea Belotti, as both of the latter players are marked with a very high asking value.
Despite the ongoing David De Gea associations parallelly running alongside between the same two clubs, it is understood that the two deals are kept separate, and no player exchange is being considered in the deal at the moment.
While the Spaniard is valued close to £50 million right now, United would try to bring Morata to Old Trafford at a lower value than that, closer to £40 million. Nonetheless, it would be significantly lesser than Everton’s demands of £100 million for Lukaku, and the £80 million value on Torino’s Belotti.
The move for Morata is highly essential for Manchester United, as they have been highly wasteful in the final third of the ground throughout the season. Ibrahimovic was the main striker with most goals to his name up until the cruciate injury took him to the stretcher against Anderlecht in April.
Reuters / Andrew Yates
With the lack of world-class quality up front, and missing experience in Marcus Rashford, United are being forced to look for a new number 9. It would also be a sound investment, considering Zlatan’s age and team depth if he chooses to retire.
Chelsea are also keeping close tabs on the Spanish international, but Antonio Conte seems to prefer Lukaku to Morata, despite the Real Madrid man proving that he can be a consistent goal scorer by netting 15 goals in 26 league games for Los Blancos.
Morata, however, has indicated that he wishes to stay back in Madrid, following Real winning their 12th UEFA Champions League title. But if the club decides to let him go, he would have to move on to a more suitable place.
After having played for Juventus for 2 years, and having bagged 15 goals for them, he has indicated that he can play in the top leagues at the highest competitive level and still perform consistently – which is exactly what United seek right now.
Written by Srivats Venkateswaran 
Sports writer with a long experience of writing in football.Was football team head at EssentiallySports. Still deeply misses Sir Alex and Berbatov at United. An introvert at heart with a poetic hand. Engineer by choice, writer by passion.