Chelsea are edging closer to securing a club-record deal to sign Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, reports Gianluca Di Marzio.
Morata is determined to leave Madrid for the second time in his career after failing to establish himself as a first-team regular under Zinedine Zidane after returning from Juventus last summer.
The Spain international was widely expected to join Manchester United this summer only for Jose Mourinho’s side to drop their interest and sign Romelu Lukaku, who was on course to return to Chelsea.
Antonio Conte has made signing a new star striker a priority this summer after telling Diego Costa he is no longer wanted at the club and the Premier League champions are now in advanced discussions with Madrid for Morata.
The European champions have been demanding €90m (£79.6m) for Morata but Chelsea were reluctant to pay that much in the immediate aftermath of their failed pursuit of Lukaku.
However, Madrid have been adamant any suitor must pay that much for the 24-year-old, which would almost certainly mean Chelsea will have to break their club-transfer record to land the forward.
Chelsea have not paid more than £50m for a player since they signed Fernando Torres from Liverpool in January 201, but now they appear destined to shatter that sum for another Spaniard.
Despite failing to establish himself as a first-team regular last season, only Cristiano Ronaldo (25) scored more league goals for Madrid than Morata (15).
In fact, only Lionel Messi (1 every 76.5 minutes of action) scored more frequently in La Liga last term than Morata (every 88.7 minutes), who has also linked with a move to AC Milan.
For more stats on Alvaro Morata, click here to visit his WhoScored player page
