Club chief hands Man United a blow in their pursuit for star striker

Club chief hands Man United a blow in their pursuit for star striker

Manchester United’s start to the summer transfer window hasn’t been as many hoped it would be, with the Red Devils losing face following a collapse of their pursuit of Antoine Griezmann- who ended up signing a new contract with Atletico Madrid.

Reports also suggested that Jose Mourinho’s side have been unsuccessful in their pursuit of Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, with the Belgian looking increasingly likely to return to Chelsea, which has left Manchester United with limited options.

Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata now stands as the priority signing for Manchester United in the attacking areas and reports have indicated a deal for the Spaniard is close. However, those claims have been denied by the Spanish side.


Speaking to Spanish radio, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez revealed he has had no bids for the striker- a stark contrast to reports from England which suggested a fee was agreed.

‘I have not talked to [PSG chairman] Nasser [Al-Khelaifi] or anyone else, nor have we received offers for [Ronaldo], Morata or James,’

‘And neither have we made any offers for anyone. There are no figures. The only possibility is to continue with the players we have. And if we do something, it will be punctual.’

‘In principle, we do not want anyone to go, just as Zizou [Zinedine Zidane] said. Nobody has offered us anything. Not for James or anyone. Let’s not get obsessed. We have a great team and what we do will be to improve it.’

Real Madrid’s clear reluctance to sell means that Manchester United will have to overpay for Morata and the fact that the Spaniard only returned to the Santiago Bernabeu last summer means Los Blancos have a strong negotiating position.

Manchester United need to get their business done swiftly ahead of an extremely busy pre-season period, where the Red Devils remarkably have eight fixtures in North America during their tour of the continent- which could provide the club with difficulties when the Premier League season kicks-off in August.

United will need significant depth to cope with their involvement across all fronts next season and their forward options are severely lacking at the moment, following the loss of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and speculation that captain Wayne Rooney could be on his way out.

Unfortunately for Manchester United, the comments from Perez indicate that no progress has been made towards a deal for Morata- and that’s a big issue.