Real Madrid have revealed that Alvaro Morata will be returning to the club this summer, and will join up with the first-team squad ahead of pre-season.
The Spanish international’s future has been highly speculated in recent months, with many news sources claiming that the striker would have his buy-back clause triggered, before selling him on for profit.
Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have all been linked with deals for Morata, but he will now be staying with the Real Madrid squad for the upcoming season.
The official news was reported on Real Madrid’s official website, which I will loosely translate below:
‘Real Madrid C. F have announced the decision to take up their rights to buy-back Alvaro Morata as per the agreement in his sale, and he will now join up with the first-team squad for pre-season on manager Zinedine Zidane’s request.’
Only today it was speculated that Real had slapped a £60 Million asking price on their former youth product, following the announcement from Juventus that the Spanish giants had confirmed that they were to trigger the release clause in the 23 year-old’s contract.
Arsenal were said to be baulking at the new fee regardless, but with that simply being a rumour, this latest piece of information will finally confirm that Morata will not be moving to the Emirates club.
The North-Londoners also look unlikely to sign Jamie Vardy from Leicester City this summer, leaving huge doubts about whether Arsene Wenger will finally manage to bring in the top striker needed to challenge Olivier Giroud for a central role.
Who should Arsenal turn their attentions to now? Could Jese or Karim Benzema now be made available for transfer? Is Jese good enough?