Morata close to finalising Real Madrid exit; trio placed on alert

Rob McCarthy

In-demand striker Alvaro Morata is reportedly close to sealing a long-awaited transfer away from Real Madrid.

The Spain forward wants out of the Bernabeu as he seeks regular first-team football and Italian giants AC Milan are the frontrunners for his signature.

The Serie A outfit have already brought in Hakan Calahanoglu, Andre Silva, Franck Kessie and Mateo Musacchio during a big spending spree so far this summer and are now ready to land Morata for €70 million, according to a report in Metro.

Chelsea, however, remain interested as they are planning for life without Diego Costa, while Manchester United were leading the chase for the 24-year-old before they signed Romelu Lukaku.

Lukaku’s arrival has not stopped rumours that United could still be interested in Morata, although there are now other areas of Jose Mourinho’s team that he would sooner strengthen.

Milan looks the favourites though, with La Gazzetta dello Sport reporting that they have intensified negotiations for the striker and are ‘a step away’ from completing a big-money deal.