Morata shows he can replace Ronaldo at Man Utd with Atleti double
FT Desk
- 15 Aug 2022 20:16 BST
- 3 min read
Alvaro Morata scored a brace as Atletico Madrid beat Getafe 2-0 on Monday. Manchester United should relish having him as a makeweight in any deal for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Atletico have emerged as Ronaldo's most likely destination as he seeks a route out of Old Trafford and into the Champions League.
United failed to qualify for European football's top tournament this season, and the Portuguese wants to extend his record 140 goals in the competition, if not win it for a sixth time outright.
If Alvaro Morata replaces Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United could learn from the Spaniard's Chelsea spell 🤨 🇪🇸https://t.co/IvOS0lVcfU
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) August 11, 2022
Atletico are in the Champions League after last term's third-place finish in La Liga, and Diego Simeone is reportedly interested in signing the former Real Madrid man - even if it displeases a section of the Atletico support.
The package to secure Ronaldo's signature is expected to cost up to €24 million, but Atletico are set to offer Morata as a potential makeweight and, on recent performances, United should bite their hands off.
Goals, goals, goals
For one, Morata is outperforming Ronaldo in recent weeks. While Ronaldo was benched for United's opening day 2-1 defeat to Brighton - his fitness having skipped the majority of pre-season citing family issues the reason - Morata was scoring a hat-trick against Juventus.
If comparing competitive and friendly games that Sunday isn't fair, the following weekend saw Ronaldo play for 90 goalless minutes as United were thrashed 4-0 by Brentford. He ignored Erik ten Hag on his way off the field at full-time for good measure.
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Come Monday, Morata was, by contrast, scoring two goals as Atletico got their La Liga season underway with a 3-0 win at Getafe.
Morata is a humbler character in the dressing room, has eight years on Ronaldo, and on current performances, is outscoring him too. If Atletico want to use him as a makeweight, it would be United's gain.
