Arsenal are ready to spend £50m on Juventus striker Alvaro Morata this summer, The Express cites Spanish publication Okdiario as reporting.
The Express understands that the Gunners have cash reserves of £138.8m, and are willing to splash out a big chunk of that on the 23-year-old forward.
According to The Express, the Spaniard was tracked by Arsenal and Manchester United in January, but there is a fear that Real Madrid could use their option to re-sign Morata, only to then sell him on at a big profit, driving his lofty price up further.
There has long been an opinion that Arsenal are a top-class striker short of challenging for the Premier League title, but Arsene Wenger has not invested.
Olivier Giroud, Arsenal’s top scorer this season with 12 league goals, has at least four fewer than the leading marksman at each of the club’s title rivals.
Morata has been highly rated for several years, but does not have the goalscoring pedigree to suggest that he can make the difference at the North London club.
He has scored eight goals in 38 for Juventus appearances this season, and 23 in 83 in total since moving to Italy. He managed 11 in 52 senior games for Madrid.
Arsenal would be buying potential, but, if they have the volume of savings that The Express claim them to have, they might be better of targeting a more proven striker.
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