Chelsea will reportedly launch an €80m bid for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata to put an end to the frustration over their search for a new forward.
Antonio Conte has seen limited transfer activity so far this summer, although the signing of defender Antonio Rudiger on Sunday would certainly have lifted spirits.
The German international joins back-up goalkeeper Willy Caballero as a summer signing, but much more is expected from the Premier League champions between now and the start of the new campaign.
According to AS, Conte wants to now switch the focus on bringing in a much-needed striker, and that search will now take them back to his preferred target all along in Morata.
Having missed out on Romelu Lukaku, who will complete his move to Manchester United this week, it has led Chelsea back to their original plan to swoop for the 24-year-old, with the Spanish international said to be looking for a move elsewhere this summer having failed to be given the prominent role that he had been promised last summer.
It’s added in the report that the transfer will likely now gather pace over the next few days with the offer matching Madrid’s demands, with Morata expected to pen a four or five-year deal with the English giants.
Further, it’s even suggested that Morata could continue his pre-season preparations in the Spanish capital rather than fly out with the rest of the squad for their pre-season tour of the US, thus suggesting that negotiations are going well between the two clubs.
It’s been a frustrating transfer saga for all concerned up to this point, but it now looks as though Chelsea have settled on Morata, are willing to pay what Madrid are demanding in a structured deal and will push through an agreement in the coming days as Conte finally gets to work with the player he signed at Juventus in 2014, before leaving that same summer to take the Italy job.