Chelsea to beat Manchester United to Real Madrid striker

Premier League leaders Chelsea are apparently leading the pursuit of unsettled Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata. The Spain international, who is also a transfer target for Manchester United, has seen limited playing time this season.

Morata, 24, rejoined the European champions from Juventus last summer after the Capital club opted to trigger the £30m buy-back option in his contract.

The striker was therein linked with a potential move to the Premier League with Chelsea, but Los Blancos decided against the deal in order to keep hold of their graduate. 

Morata has since had a frustrating spell with the Bernabeu giants with Zinedine Zidane reluctant to pick him ahead of Karim Benzema for the centre-forward position.

Recent speculation suggested that the Spaniard could prefer a return to former club Juventus, where he really made a name for himself as a top-class marksman.

However, The Sun brings a fresh twist to the story with the player supposedly leaning for a move to long-time admirers Chelsea.

Morata's girlfriend is understood to have already begun house-hunting in the English capital with the striker wanting to participate in next season's Champions League.

Despite his restricted playing time, Morata has managed to rack a tally of 18 goals in 38 outings across all competitions for Real Madrid this term.

His arrival at Stamford Bridge could coincide with the exit of Diego Costa, who is wanted by a host of Chinese clubs.