Conte coup Chelsea manager lands Morata for £20m less than United paid for Lukaku
Chelsea have pulled off an incredible transfer coup by agreeing an initial fee of £58million with Real Madrid for Alvaro Morata.
In a statement on their website last night, Chelsea confirmed The Daily Telegraph’s earlier report that a deal with Madrid has been agreed and Morata will now discuss personal terms and undergo a medical.
Chelsea did not reveal the size of the fee, but it is understood the Premier League champions will pay £58million before add-ons. That is almost £20 million less than the initial £75million Manchester United paid for Romelu Lukaku, who had been Chelsea’s top target.
Sources close to the talks believe Chelsea have struck a superb deal for Spain international Morata in the current transfer market, where fees have spiralled out of control. The £58million will still eclipse Chelsea’s previous record spend of £50million on Fernando Torres in 2011. It is believed the add-ons could see the final fee for Morata rise towards £70million if Chelsea achieve their targets with him.
Morata travelled with Real for their United States tour, but will now break away from that to discuss personal terms with Chelsea and undergo a medical.
Having initially left their options open following their failure to land Lukaku, Chelsea made a breakthrough in negotiations with Real over Morata yesterday and hope to conclude the transfer swiftly.
Morata scored 15 La Liga goals for Real last season, but wants to move to become the No1 striker after acting as back-up to Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. He had agreed to join United, but they instead hijacked Chelsea’s interest in Lukaku which left Morata in limbo.
The arrival of Morata will be welcomed by several members of the Chelsea squad, who have become concerned at the precarious situation in which the club find themselves. Chelsea announced that head coach Conte had been reing warded for his fine first season with a pay rise, which underlined the commitment that the Italian will start this campaign in charge. But the absence of any extension means there remains no long-term guarantees over Conte’s future, which has prompted speculation among players that he might be in charge only for a further 12 months at most.
There was also some dismay that Chelsea left for their pre-season tour of China and Singapore without any significant new signings in the squad but with Diego Costa and Nemanja Matic left behind.
Defender Antonio Rudiger could meet up with the Chelsea squad in Singapore after his holiday, but midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko will continue his recovery from injury at the club’s Cobham training ground.
Clinching the signature of Morata will certainly improve the mood within the squad and among Chelsea’s fans. With Real right-back Danilo, who Conte had been keen to sign, set to move to Manchester City, Chelsea will try again to reach an agreement with Juventus over left-back Alex Sandro. Negotiations have been slow regarding Sandro, despite Chelsea indicating a willingness to pay £60million for the Brazilian.
Italian sources have claimed the sale of Leonardo Bonucci means Juve will not sell Sandro and will instead offer him a new contract, but that has not yet put off Conte and Chelsea.
Juve’s interest in midfielder Matic adds another dimension to Chelsea’s pursuit of Sandro.