Jose Mourinho has reportedly given the promise of regular first-team football in order to entice Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata to come to Old Trafford in the summer. The 24-year-old had a good season for Real but Zidane preferred to play Benzema more than the Spaniard.

Now, Morata is the chief transfer target for a United team that could be without Zlatan Ibrahimovic next season. United only recently confirmed the release of the striker, and this leaves Jose Mourinho with Marcus Rashford, Wayne Rooney, and Anthony Martial as his primary centre-forward options.

After having scored the fewest number of goals amongst the top 7 teams of the league table last season, Manchester United clearly know where to strengthen for the 2017-18 campaign. Morata comes on the back of an impressive 20 goals in 43 appearances across all competitions. Even more impressive is the fact that he has been a substitute in majority of these games, as manager Zinedine Zidane has continued to pick Karim Benzema as the first choice centre forward.

This was not a surprise goalscoring campaign for Morata, as he demonstrated the same kind of qualities even during his time at Juventus.

A number of clubs have been after Morata, but it is clear that Jose Mourinho’s overwhelming confirmation to the player’s agent might have done the trick. Mourinho reportedly called up Morata’s agent Juanma Lopez and claimed that the 24-year-old will be an important part of United next season – if he decides to come to Old Trafford.

So far, the stumbling block towards a potential deal has been the transfer fees demanded by Madrid. Manchester United were never going to pay a ridiculous sum of money. However, we did come in with a first offer of £52.4million. United Chief Executive Ed Woodward has been in negotiations with Madrid officials for the last few weeks, and it is expected that the player will eventually leave the Santiago Bernabeu.

Despite being only 24, Morata has already been immensely successful after managing to win two La Liga titles, two Champions League medals, two Copa del Rey titles, two Italian Serie A titles, and one FIFA Club World Cup medal.