Manchester United have put their striker eggs in one basket and are ready to do everything necessary to get that basket over to Old Trafford, tagged Alvaro Morata, from Real Madrid.
Jose Mourinho has identified Morata as the man to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Manchester United, and while the English Premier League club have flirted with bids for Andrea Belotti and Romelu Lukaku, of Torino and Everton respectively, the Spain international is the striker the manager wants.
However, wanting something and actually getting it, as the vast majority of people will attest to, are not the same things. And Manchester United are finding that out, with Real Madrid playing some hardball.
Knowing United's need for a striker and Mourinho's preference, Real Madrid have slapped a high-is-an-understatement €90 million price tag on Morata, which, in this already-crazy transfer market, is pretty high.
Morata isn't even a regular starter at Real Madrid, so it isn't as if they would be losing a really important player, who was key to their success last season.
According to The Guardian, after seeing a couple of offers, worth €60 million and €70 million, turned down, Manchester United have upped the ante with a bid of €75 million (£65.7 million).
And while that is still €15 million less than Real's asking price, Manchester United are growing increasingly confident of completing the move.
If Mourinho has his way, he would like the Morata signing to be completed by this weekend, so that the Spaniard can join the club in their pre-season trip to USA.
The report also suggests Morata has already agreed a contract with Manchester United, so if the price with Real Madrid is negotiated, the move should be completed swiftly.
Manchester United, so far, have only managed to ink the signature of Victor Lindelof, who switched from Benfica for a cool £30 million.
Mourinho also wants a midfielder to be added to his squad as quickly as possible, with that player looking like being Nemanja Matic, who is set for an insanely-inflated move worth £40 million from Chelsea.
What is holding that transfer back is that Chelsea want to complete the transfer of Tiemoue Bakayoko from Monaco before letting Matic leave Stamford Bridge.
