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ALVARO MORATA has cut short his honeymoon and returned to Madrid in a bid to speed up his move to Manchester United.
The Real Madrid striker has spent the last week in Ibiza following his wedding to Alice Campello and was hoping a £65m switch to Old Trafford would be sorted before he got home.
But Real bosses have rejected United’s opening bid and are holding out for a fee in the region of £75m-£80m instead.
Morata has got so frustrated he has left his new wife in Ibiza and headed back to the Spanish capital to urge Real to lower their asking price.
Starsport exclusively revealed earlier this month how United feared Real would play hardball over Morata following the refusal of the Premier League giants to sell them goalkeeper David De Gea.
The 24-year-old has spoken to United boss Jose
Mourinho to tell him he wants to join them instead of Chelsea.
Mourinho is a long-time admirer of Morata and handed him his Real debut when he was boss at the Bernabeu in 2010.
But Real president Florentino Perez is in no rush to sell and is willing to bide his time in a bid to coax as much out of United as possible.
Now Morata is poised to intervene personally in the hope it will help speed up the process so he can be a United player before they leave for a pre-season tour of America next month.
Meanwhile, Ivan Perisic is poised to snub a new deal from Inter Milan in a bid to secure a move to Old Trafford.
Reject
Inter bosses are desperate to keep Perisic and want him to sign a new contract so it raises his valuation.
United have made a bid of around £30m for Perisic, but the Italian giants rate him in the region of £45m.
The difference in price has held up the deal, leaving Mourinho frustrated.
Starsport understands Perisic will reject a new and improved deal, to leave Inter with no choice but to agree a fee with United.
Old Trafford bosses remain confident of landing the Croatian and are hoping his stance – plus the fact that Inter need to raise £30m to balance their books and avoid a £7m fine from UEFA for breaching financial fair play rules – will force the deal through.
The former Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund winger scored 13 goals and claimed nine assists last season.