Real Madrid president denies talks with Manchester United over Morata

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has denied the club have held any talks with Manchester United about the sale of Alvaro Morata but is aware the striker’s representatives have spoken to the Premier League giants.

Morata has emerged as United’s top transfer target to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic this summer and the Spain international has reportedly even cut short his honeymoon to accelerate a deal to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford.

Personal terms have reportedly been agreed between United and Morata but Madrid are reportedly holding out for as much as €90m (£79.8m) and Perez insists talks for a fee haven’t even started with their European counterparts.

“I believe we are not negotiating with Manchester United, which does not mean that there are not people around him who are talking, which is normal,” Perez told El Primer Palo on Monday night.

“I have read that we have reached an agreement for I don’t know how many million euros, but it is not true.”

Morata only returned to Madrid from Juventus last summer after Zinedine Zidane’s side triggered his £23m buy-back clause but he has failed to establish himself as a first-team regular at the club for the second time in his career.

The 24-year-old finished last season as Madrid’s second top goalscorer in the league (15 goals) despite only starting 14 games from his 26 appearances.

In fact, of players that scored at least five times in La Liga last season, only Lionel Messi (1 every 76.5 minutes of action) required fewer minutes per goal than Morata (every 88.7 minutes).

For more stats on Alvaro Morata, click here to visit his WhoScored player page