da gbg bet： According to reports in The Sun, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho says the club missed out on the signing of Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata because they didn’t want to pay the £80m fee that the La Liga giants were demanding for the Spain international.
What’s the word, then?
da dobrowin： Well, speaking in a press conference in Los Angeles during United’s pre-season tour of America, Mourinho admitted he was interested in bringing Morata to Old Trafford this summer as a replacement for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but that the club was unable to agree a fee with Real as they only wanted to pay £60m, with the Champions League holders wanting £80m, according to The Sun.
The Red Devils have since beaten Premier League rivals Chelsea to the signing of Romelu Lukaku in a £75m deal from Everton, with the Belgian joining fellow summer addition Victor Lindelof at the club.
What did Mourinho say?
Asked whether he was interested in Morata, the 54-year-old said: “Yes, we have had interest, that is obvious and it’s public.
“We have not come to an economic agreement, that is obvious as well.
“But it’s Real Madrid’s right to ask for their players the amount of money that they want.
“We do not determine what the price is of a player of Real Madrid, Real Madrid do that and we didn’t arrive at an agreement with Real Madrid.”
Is Morata worth £80m?
It’s difficult to say.
The Spain international certainly has plenty of experience of playing at the highest level with both Real and Juventus during his career, and in a way he probably is worth that much in the current market considering United signed Lukaku for £75m, with the Belgian yet to feature in a Champions League match.
Could a deal still happen?
Considering they spent £75m Lukaku and weren’t willing to spend £5m more than that fee on Morata then it seems very unlikely, but I guess you can never say never with Mourinho and Manchester United.
The Portuguese boss knows that he needed to bring in more firepower this summer as the Red Devils often struggled to break down opponents in the Premier League last season, and he may still be tempted to add another striker to his squad.
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