Manchester United agree terms for Ibrahimovic replacement

Manchester United have reached a deal in principle with Alvaro Morata and must now agree on a fee with Real Madrid to secure their first signing of the summer, claims The Daily Telegraph.

Jose Mourinho has earmarked Morata as his number one transfer target this summer after prioritising the need to sign a true No.9 in the wake of Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s long-term knee injury.

United are expected to confirm they will not renew Ibrahimovic’s contract on Friday and they are now attempting to make significant progress in a deal to sign Morata after accepting Romelu Lukaku will return to Chelsea this summer.

Morata’s agent revealed on Thursday that the Madrid striker wants regular first-team football next season after failing to establish himself at the Bernebau for the second time in his career following his return last summer.

United have already had an opening £52m bid rejected for Morata and are expected to return with an improved £60m offer, although that is still short of Madrid’s valuation, which is just shy of £80m.

However, it appears United have at least confirmed Morata’s intentions to reunite with Mourinho at Old Trafford and now just need to agree on a price with Madrid before making their first major splash in the transfer window.

It would also be a significant score for United if they can get this deal over the line without including David De Gea. It was thought the only way they could prize Morata away from Madrid would be to include his international teammate but Zinedine Zidane’s side have reportedly ended their interest following Keylor Navas’ strong end to the season.

United are still reportedly interested in Torino striker Andrea Belotti but now appear to focusing all of their resources on securing 24-year-old Morata.

Of players that scored at least five goals in La Liga last season only one player had a better conversion rate than Morata (27.3%).

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