13:52h CEST

Álvaro Morata has taken a break from his honeymoon to return to Madrid in an attempt to speed up his transfer to Manchester United. His new wife, Alice Campello, has stayed put in Ibiza, where they will soon be reunited.

Morata favours United over Chelsea

The Madrid academy product has had several phone calls with Jose Mourinho and, despite interest from Antonio Conte’s Chelsea, wants to reunite with the coach who handed him his debut with Los Blancos in 2010. Mourinho is a long-standing admirer of the striker, and believes that his pressing and aerial ability would make him perfectly suited to the Premier League.

Yet Madrid are unwilling to sell their prized academy asset for the price that United are currently offering: €74m. Those upstairs at the Bernabéu know that Morata is one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe and, beyond that, are keen to take advantage of the financial clout that Premier League clubs wield. Madrid are confident that they can coax between €85m and €90m from Old Trafford.

That would make Morata the most expensive outgoing transfer in Madrid’s history, overtaking Ángel Di Maria’s €75m move to the same Mancunian club.

Full screen Morata returns from honeymoon to speed up United deal JESUS ALVAREZ ORIHUELA (DIARIO AS)

Madrid in less of a rush than Morata

Real Madrid are not in a rush to sell Morata, because the European Super Cup against Mourinho’s Manchester United is on the horizon (8 August in Skopje, Macedonia). Yet Morata does not want the transfer to become a soap opera. It is for this reason that he is back in the Spanish capital to accelerate the process.

In an ideal world, Morata would like to be a Manchester United player by 8 July, which is when the Red Devils return to pre-season training. The next few hours will be key.