Man United finally make a huge bid for Alvaro Morata - Real Madrid have responded

Alvaro Morata.

While Wayne Rooney's return has dominated the headlines today, it's not the outgoings that are really concerning Red Devils' fans at the moment, it's the lack of incomings.

Victor Lindelof remains the only major signing that Jose Mourinho has managed to get across the line thus far and he parted with £40 million to get ahold of his Swedish ball-playing defender.

However, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic departing the club this summer and Rooney seemingly set for a romantic return to Everton, United are down two strikers with just the young Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial to fill the void.

This is where it gets complicated. Mourinho was said to be desperate to sign Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid, but when Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly revealed his intentions to leave Real, that threw the ultimate spanner in the works.

Naturally, United were seen as the frontrunners to bring the Portuguese superstar back to Old Trafford alongside the opulent Paris Saint-Germain, but at 32-years-old, reports suggest that Mourinho is more interested in spending big on the younger Morata, 24.

According to Goal, United finally made their first bid for the Spanish international this week and their £70.2 million offer has been rejected by Real.

The Spanish giants are thought to be holding out for around £79 million and Mourinho must surely resent going so high after Morata only returned to the Spanish capital from Juventus last summer in a deal worth €32 million.

Considering he played second fiddle to Karim Benzema for the majority of last season, despite scoring 20 goals in all competitions, it's curious that Madrid seem to think he has essentially trebled in value over the past year.

After losing the salaries of Rooney and Zlatan, United should have plenty of room to manoeuvre in these negotiations and if they want to match Madrid's price, they can. But, do they think he is worth that?

One has to imagine they do if they have bid £70 million already. According to reports, Madrid will then sanction a world record deal for French wonderkid Kylian Mbappe should the Morata deal go through.