Former Juventus striker Alvaro Morata. (Photo : Getty Images)
Chelsea is reportedly set to make a "last ditch" effort to snag Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata this summer as the team prepares a club record-tying £50 million offer for the Spain international, according to recent reports.
The Sun indicated that new Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte is not yet finished in bolstering "his strike force with Diego Costa's future at Stamford Bridge under serious threat", although the club had already signed 22-year-old Belgian striker Michy Batshuayi from Marseille earlier this month.
Rumors abound that La Liga club Atletico Madrid is planning to bring back Costa to Spain's capital city this summer and so Conte is preparing if such a move indeed transpires.
Real Madrid is said to be hesitant on selling Morata, though, as the Bernabéu giants have "slammed Chelsea's pursuit of Morata and admit the player is not for sale at any price". Los Blancos activated the £23 million buyback clause of the 23-year-old Madrid native at the end of last season to bring him back to Real.
Initially, Los Vikingos head coach Zinedine Zidane reportedly intended to sell Morata for a profit upon getting him back but seemed to have changed his mind after the striker's remarkable performance in the recently concluded Euro 2016.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that aside from Chelsea, Italian Serie A club Napoli is also eyeing the 6-foot-2 Spaniard "as a potential replacement for Gonzalo Higuaín" if the Argentine goalscorer will decide to exit Stadio San Paolo this summer.
Higuaín is rumored to be close to moving to the Premier League with the Blues' rivals, Arsenal, as Gunners head coach Arsene Wenger is also in the process of reinforcing his striking unit currently composed of Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Alexis Sánchez, Alex Iwobi, Joel Campbell, and Theo Walcott.
Morata is coming off his second season with Juventus where he appeared in 34 Italian top flight matches and scored seven goals. Overall, in all competitions, the striker played in 47 games and scored 12 times.
In two seasons with the Old Lady, Morata had appeared in a total of 93 fixtures and had netted 27 goals, helping the club win two Serie A titles and two Coppa Italia trophies.
