Chelsea Reportedly to Bid €80M for Alvaro Morata After Missing Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea are reportedly set to turn to Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata with an offer in the region of €80 million (£70.9 million) after missing out on Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United.

According to Javier Silles of AS, Chelsea are now Morata's best chance of getting a move this summer after he appeared to be close to joining United prior to their capture of Lukaku.

While a move to Old Trafford "has not yet been ruled out," sources have reported the Blues will make an offer "close to €80 million, including all variables, to Real Madrid in the next few days."

While that offer will still fall short of Los Blancos' €90 million valuation for the striker, Chelsea are said to have a "much more fluid" working relationship with Real than United.

The player himself is set to "accelerate the conversations in the early part of this week" by remaining in Madrid rather than heading on their pre-season tour of the United States, and there should be no problems in reaching personal terms, with the Blues set to offer a four or five-year contract worth more than his current deal.

Real star Luka Modric has cautioned his team-mates from leaving the Santiago Bernabeu:

Per La Liga writer Andrew Gaffney, Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane would be content with Morata staying put:

However, Morata's desire for more regular football is understandable. Despite his excellent form last year, he was frequently forced to play a back-up role to Karim Benzema, even though the Frenchman scored the fewest number of goals since his first season in the Spanish capital.

With Diego Costa seemingly on his way out at Chelsea, the Blues have need of another forward to take his place as the team's first-choice hitman.

As noted by Football365's Daniel Storey, Morata is far less prolific than Lukaku:

However, he'd still make for a viable option at Stamford Bridge.

He's garnered plenty of UEFA Champions League experience during his time at Juventus and Real, and his goal for the former in the 2015 final demonstrates his ability to find the net in crucial games.

What's more, he boasted a far better minutes-per-goal ratio than the Belgian last season.

Morata scored 20 in 1,872 minutes in all competitions, or one every 94 minutes on average, while Lukaku scored 26 in 3,447 minutes, or one every 133 minutes.

If the Spaniard is keen to join the Blues and they're not too far off Real's valuation, they have a good chance of striking a deal.

Backed as the first-choice goalscorer in the team, Morata can become even more prolific.