Chelsea Transfer News: Alvaro Morata Talks Amid Arsenal, Jamie Vardy Rumours

Chelsea have reportedly opened talks to land Juventus striker Alvaro Morata and are said to be looking to land the Spaniard while Arsenal are preoccupied in negotiations with Leicester City's Jamie Vardy.

According to the Mirror's Ed Malyon, inbound Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is a "long-time fan" of the forward. The Telegraph's Matt Law went so far as to report Chelsea are in talks to sign Morata:

Arsenal have also been linked with a move for Morata, but it seems Gunners chief Arsene Wenger is onto the target he desires after recently Arsenal triggered Vardy's £20 million release clause.

The former Real starlet scored just 12 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions last season, but David Amoyal, a translator for Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, believes the Bianconeri star is about more than goals alone:

Morata will be a slightly more expensive investment, owing to the fact Real Madrid are widely known to be planning on exercising their £24 million buyback clause for the player before auctioning him for a profit, per Malyon.

Conte's Chelsea are understood to be leading that charge after incumbent frontman Diego Costa didn't do much to boost faith in his abilities last season, when the Blues stuttered to a 10th-place finish in the Premier League.

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According to Malyon, Real manager Zinedine Zidane has no plans to keep Morata at the Santiago Bernabeu and would sell to the biggest bidders after re-signing the player.

Morata helped guide Juventus to a fifth successive Serie A title last season before dazzling in Spain's Euro 2016 preparations and making the front page of Spanish newspaper AS following a friendly win over South Korea:

The Spain international struggled to compete alongside Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic last season, and Chelsea could be taking a risk on a young player who's yet to prove himself in the colder climate of the Premier League.

BBC Sport's David Ornstein also made sure to note Arsenal's move for Vardy is far from complete after Leicester launched a counteroffer in a bid to convince their star forward to stay:

Vardy is preparing to travel with England to Euro 2016, and should his move to north London fall apart, Morata may yet arise as a Gunners alternative.

Chelsea are seemingly steaming ahead in the hunt to recruit Morata, with Conte hoping to get a chance to work with a player he just missed out on linking up with following his abrupt departure from Juve in the summer of 2014.