Morata to Man Utd stopped by Ronaldo saga

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Ronaldo wanted to leave Real Madrid earlier this summer after growing frustrated at accusations from Spanish prosecutors that he avoided tax totalling almost £13million, a claim he denied.

Zinedine Zidane’s side were therefore not willing to let Morata leave until they knew where Ronaldo would be playing his football next season.

So Manchester United turned their attentions to Romelu Lukaku and stole him from under Chelsea’s noses, signing him from Everton for £75million.

Morata is now linked with Chelsea and as Hunter explained, they have been keen on the Spain striker since last year.

“A key thing to understand is that a year ago Chelsea, with (Antonio) Conte’s blessing, bid for Morata, bid £65million,” he said on Sky Sports.

“They’ve identified for a long time that his development at Juventus, his training at Madrid and the fact that he’s a consistent trophy winner at a very young age, meant that they thought he was the right player.

“He and Madrid a year ago didn’t want it to happen. Morata is now sick of not being a guaranteed starter, sick of not playing 45 or 50 matches a year.”

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Speculation over Ronaldo’s future at the Bernabeu has died down in recent weeks, with him expected to continue his stay in the Spanish capital.

And Hunter says Chelsea are now the best option for Morata this summer.

“Now that the Manchester United thing has died down which was held up because Real Madrid deliberately left United at arm’s length because they did not know if Cristiano Ronaldo was going to carry out his threat and leave,” Hunter added.

“Now that it’s come to a head, now that Lukaku to United has happened, Chelsea for Morata is his best option to leave.

“At the moment, Morata’s mentality is still that he doesn’t get the game time at Madrid, and although he’d like to triumph there, Chelsea are real contenders and they can afford him.”

Morata scored 20 goals for Real last season in all competitions.

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