Chelsea are on the verge of bolstering their attack for their Premier League title defence after agreeing a club record deal worth an initial £58m with Real Madrid to sign the Spain forward Álvaro Morata. Discussions have been ongoing with Madrid since Chelsea lost out on their first-choice, Romelu Lukaku, to Manchester United, with a breakthrough achieved on Wednesday. Chelsea’s fee for Morata eclipses the £50m they gave Liverpool for Fernando Torres in 2011 and could rise to £70m with achievable add-ons. Wages are not expected to prove an issue, with Morata in line to earn around £150,000 a week on a five-year contract. Morata ultimately returned to Madrid, his hometown club, after they activated a buy-back clause and secured him for £23m.

Source: The Guardian July 19, 2017 16:06 UTC