English Premier League squad Arsenal FC is negotiating with La Liga giants Real Madrid to arrange a £51 million summer swoop for Juventus striker Alvaro Morata, recent reports said.
While the 23-year-old Spanish goalscorer is currently signed by the reigning five-straight Italian Serie A champions, his contract has a buy-back clause in favor of his former club Real Madrid and rumors are out that Los Blancos is planning to activate it in the summer.
With that in mind, Arsene Wenger and the Gunners are said to be directly negotiating with the Bernabéu residents for the services of Morata as the Spain international has become "one of the most sought-after strikers heading into the summer transfer window," the Independent reported.
The report said that Real can buy-back the young striker as termed in his deal for £23.6 million during the upcoming transfer window. Zinedine Zidane's club will then be able to sell Morata for a significant profit to interested teams such as Arsenal.
It particularly mentioned Los Blancos' plan to sell Morata to the Gunners for £51 million, which would break the club's current transfer record of £42.5 million set in 2013 when Arsenal acquired German playmaker Mesut Özil also from Real Madrid.
Head coach Wenger is said to be keen on improving the Gunners attacking options next season as his resident strikers Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, and Danny Welbeck have not lived up to expectations at the Emirates Stadium.
However, there are some concerns regarding the deal as Morata is allegedly desiring a move back to Madrid and not anywhere else. It is a risk for Arsenal to put all their hopes in acquiring Morata from Real as the striker must also agree on the transfer for it to push through.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that it may be a bad move for the Gunners to snag Morata because the Madrid native has a "worse goal return" than that of Giroud.
Giroud recently erupted with a hat trick during Arsenal's 4-0 win over relegated team Aston Villa in their season finale to overtake Tottenham for second place in the final English top flight table.
Fans were said to be "worried" that Wenger will settle for Giroud and not look for a better alternative during the coming window because of his "spontaneous show of class", but they do not expect the club to go after a worse option and spend that much money on someone like Morata.