Manchester United are the latest Premier League club to track Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata, and sources have told ESPN FC that they are seriously considering making a bid for the player this summer.
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Tottenham, Liverpool and Arsenal have all been linked with a move for Morata, 21, while United face stiff competition from Juventus, sources have said.
A move to the Emirates Stadium was mooted during the January transfer window, but Madrid proved unwilling to sell.
The problem for the Liga leaders, however, is that Morata’s contract is due to expire in 2015.
Although Madrid desperately want to keep a player they consider a promising talent, there is a concern that interested clubs may use the situation to their advantage by offering Morata the kind of contract that the Santiago Bernabeu hierarchy do not feel is worthy of his current status.
A sale would also offer Morata a higher level of football -- and potentially experience of the Champions League -- than any loan move could.
United have been looking at the player, and their interest indicates that changes in attack are planned this summer. Indeed, it is anticipated that Javier Hernandez will move on, most likely to Italy or Spain.
Morata has only fully broken into the Madrid squad in the last year-and-a-half. Having spent the early part of his career on loan, he scored his first senior goal for the club against Levante on Nov. 11, 2012.
He also scored on his first start three months later against Rayo Vallecano, and played 90 minutes in Real Madrid’s 2-1 clasico win over Barcelona that March.
This season has proved frustrating, however, with 12 of Morata’s 13 league appearances coming from the bench, limiting him to just three goals.