Arsenal will reportedly make a £61m swoop for Juventus striker Alvaro Morata in order to beat Premier League rivals Liverpool to his signature.
Italian publication Tuttosport claims that the Reds have already lodged a £45m bid for Morata but that Arsenal are ready to blow them out of the water.
Arsene Wenger has suggested that he would buy a new forward if they were better than what he currently had, and Morata arguably falls into that category.
The 23-year-old only has one Serie A goal to his name this season, but has scored 18 in 37 starts for Juve and is widely seen as a star of the future.
The Gunners currently only have Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott as striking options as they aim to win a first Premier League title since 2003-04.
But you can put this one down as a non-starter. Juventus do not want to sell Morata, and former club Real Madrid have first refusal on his next move.
The La Liga giants are said to be monitoring Morata’s progress closely, having reluctantly sold him to Juventus in 2014 to grant him first-team football.
And Karim Benzema, heavily linked with a move to the Emirates Stadium throughout last summer, apparently faces an uncertain future at the Bernabeu.
While he has continued to bang in the goals – 21 in 20 games – the Frenchman’s season has been marred by a sex-tap scandal and Real’s reported interest in Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
Particularly at the price being quoted for Morata, Arsenal would be better off pursuing their-long term target if they do want to bring in a world-class forward.
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