The keys to the last 24 hours of Morata negotiations

Posted Friday, July 07, 2017 by Marca.com

The situation surrounding Alvaro Morata's transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester United remains complicated, and the move now looks further away than ever before with a fee being agreed for Romelu Lukaku's move to Old Trafford.

Negotiations began with Madrid wanting 100 million euros for the Spaniard, in order to complete a move that the striker himself had asked to push through.

Real were reluctant to let their player go and felt no need to sell, but it did look as though a deal to take Morata to England would be reached, it was only a matter of time.

Eventually, Real Madrid agreed to accept 80m euros with an additional 10m euros dependent on how many goals he would score for the English club, but differences remained and both clubs were separated by approximately 5m euros.

The protracted nature of discussions between United and Real resulted in the former turning their attention to 'Plan B' - Everton's Romelu Lukaku - who was sold by Jose Mourinho during their time together at Chelsea.

Many in the English media are suggesting that a deal is close to complete but it is still some way away. Should it go through, Antonio Conte's attention will likely move in the opposite direction from Lukaku to Morata.

Mourinho himself has been in constant contact with Morata and has done everything possible to make a move go through, but the final decision will be made by those upstairs at both clubs, who have not always found it easy to agree with one another.

Morata is expected at Real Madrid training on Monday, but for now he is disappointed that his move to Manchester has not yet been made official, while Real are not willing to budge on their demands for the striker.