Madrid: Manchester United’s bid of 52 million pounds (Dh246.7 million) for Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata has been rejected, it was reported on Wednesday, with former Real boss Jose Mourinho told to cough up in the region of 78 million pounds instead.
Sky Sports and The Sun reported that United goalkeeper David de Gea — who has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid — was not included in the offer for 24-year-old Morata.
The Spain international scored 20 goals in all competitions for Real last season as the club clinched a La Liga and Champions League double.
Morata progressed through the Real Madrid academy to make his first team debut in December 2010 before exiting for Juventus in the summer of 2014.
In his two seasons in Serie A, Morata won two Serie A titles, two Coppa Italias and was part of a run to the 2015 Champions League final that saw him score to no avail as Juventus lost 3-1 to Barcelona.
In June 2016, Real Madrid exercised a buy-back clause to bring Morata back from Juventus for around $34 million.
However, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema ahead of him, Morata has not always started — especially in the bigger games — under Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane.
It is understood that if Manchester United fail to agree a deal for Morata then manager Mourinho will instead try to sign Italian striker Andrea Belotti from Torino, who has a 100 million euro ($112.66m) release clause in his contract.
