Arsenal are planning a bid for Real Madrid striker Alvaro
Morata in the summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The Gunners were heavily linked with a loan move for the
striker last January, but Madrid blocked the move leaving Arsenal to ponder
over a concrete bid in the summer to secure his services.
The 21-year-old is reportedly frustrated with his lack of
opportunities with the Spanish giants and is willing to make the move abroad to
gain more game time.
Manager Arsene Wenger has made a striker his top priority
this summer, with Olivier Giroud and Yaya Sanogo failing to make a mark in the
latter half of the season.
Madrid are likely to demand £15m for his services with a
buy-back clause, something which Wenger is willing to negotiate on. The Gunners
are also looking at other options, with the likes of Diego Costa and Julian
Draxler being key targets in the summer.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have suffered a major setback in their
race for the title, losing to Stoke City at the Britannia and thus dropping to
third spot, behind Chelsea and Liverpool.
The north London club were below their best against a
physical Stoke side who dug into the Gunners and made it difficult for them to
play their free flowing football.
A contentious penalty late into the second half awarded
to Stoke City for a handball by Laurent Koscielny ended a sorry evening for
Wenger's men. The managed berated the referee for his performance and quipped
that the penalty was a gift for the host team.
"I felt we had a good defensive performance and
overall we are unlucky to lose this game. Offensively we didn't create enough
and our offensive game was poor considering our standards. At the end of the
day we didn't score because of that. We conceded a goal that was a nice gift
from the referee but it can happen," Wenger told www.arsenal.com.
Culled from IBTimes
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