Arsenal ready to smash club transfer record; Serie A duo head Chelsea targets

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal are considering making a club-record bid – in excess of the £42.4million they paid Real Madrid for Mesut Ozil in September 2013 – for Juventus striker Alvaro Morata, according to the Evening standard. Considering ongoing question marks over Olivier Giroud’s goal scoring prowess, the Spanish international has been earmarked by Arsene Wenger as a player capable of winning the Gunners a Premier League title next season.

The Spaniard would arrive at the Emirates in a rather convoluted manner, however, with his former club Real Madrid preparing to take advantage of a £23.6million buy-back clause in this contract, before selling him on to Arsenal for a profit. Then Spanish outfit are yet to name their price for Morata, with PSG, Manchester United and Leicester City also believed to be among the interested parties, but it is likely that a deal would surpass the fee that the club once paid for Mesut Ozil.

Is he worth the reported fee?

At 23 years of age, he is still yet to hit his peak as a central striker, despite showing excellent potential and gaining a wealth of experience both domestically and in Europe. He has found himself restricted to just 27 league starts over the last two seasons, and still he has found the back of the net on 15 occasions – a decent return for a striker failing to pick up regular minutes.

Manchester United took a significant gamble when signing Anthony Martial from Monaco last term, and few would disagree that the Frenchman was a risk worth taking. Due to the nature of his current contract situation, Alvaro Morata would come at an inflated price, but he could prove to be a very special player for Arsene Wengers’ side.