Real Madrid pushing Manchester United for £78m as Alvaro Morata transfer rumbles into next week

The Old Trafford club had hoped to tie up the Spanish international before this weekend

Miguel Delaney
Chief Football Writer
Thursday 15 June 2017 07:55 EDT
Comments
Alvaro Morata and United are both keen on a deal, but Real Madrid want €90m
Alvaro Morata and United are both keen on a deal, but Real Madrid want €90m (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Real Madrid are insisting on a fee of €90m - just over £78m - from Manchester United for Alvaro Morata as the transfer of the striker is set to rumble on into another week.

Although the vast majority of the details of a “hugely attractive package” have been agreed between the Premier League club and the player, and they had even hoped to get the deal done as early as Tuesday of this week, there is not yet a final agreement with Madrid.

It had been thought that United could get the deal done for a price of just over £60m or €75m, but the European champions are currently unwilling to countenance going so low.

Sources close to the Bernabeu club's hierarchy say that, with James Rodriguez already certain to leave the cub the summer - where United are also an option - they don’t have an particular desire to sell Morata, and that all the urgency comes on the part of the player and United. As such, president Florentino Perez has set a price of €90m - around £78m - and is perfectly willing to hold out on it.

That means the transfer will at least go into next week, especially since Morata’s wedding to Italian model Alice Campello is in Venice on Saturday. The couple - who met during the 24-year-old’s spell at Juventus - had hoped to celebrate it with the bonus news of his transfer, but now must wait until United and Real come to an agreement.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in