Arsenal Blow As £50m Target Tells Club He Wants Chelsea Move After Conte Talks

The January transfer window is now closed but we can still look at deals that failed to get across the line and those being lined-up for the summer. Today, more on the future of Alvaro Morata….

Arsenal appear to have missed out on Alvaro Morata after the £50m-rated striker informed Real Madrid that he wants to join Chelsea this summer following talks with Antonio Conte, according to a report in the Mirror.

Morata came through the Madrid youth system but struggled to hold down a regular place after breaking in to the first team set-up in 2010 and was eventually forced to join Juventus in 2014 in order to secure first team football.

The Spanish international was a huge hit during his two years in Italy but he returned to the Bernabeu last summer with the promise of a more prominent role after Madrid activated a buy-back clause in his contract.

However, Morata has once again found it difficult to hold down a regular spot having started just 6 La Liga games so far and it’s led to fresh speculation he could be on the move at the end of the season.

A move to the Premier League has been strongly touted with the Metro reporting late last month that Arsenal and Chelsea have been showing strong interest in offering the striker a fresh start here in England this summer.

With Alexis Sanchez approaching the final year of his contract and his future at the Emirates in serious doubt, it appears Arsene Wenger has identified long-term target Morata as a potential replacement for the Chilean international.

However, it looks like Arsenal could already have missed out on the 24-year-old’s signature once again as the Mirror are citing reports coming out of Spain from Gol Diario that claim Morata has now informed Madrid he wants to join Chelsea.

The report says that the striker made his decision clear to the Madrid hierarchy after holding personal talks with Blues boss Antonio Conte, who has seemingly persuaded him to join him at Stamford Bridge next season.

Conte was the man in charge at Juventus when Morata first joined the club and it looks like the pair are keen for a reunion in west London with the Spaniard lined-up as a possible replacement for Diego Costa – who’s still tipped to leave this summer following his bust-up with Conte last month.

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Morata would be an excellent signing for Chelsea, or indeed Arsenal, but they’ll need to be prepared to dig deep if they want to sign him as the Mirror claim that Madrid will demand £50m for his signature.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming months but if these reports are to be believed then it appears the run-away Premier League leaders are already closing in on their first summer signing.