Arsene Wenger has prioritised landing a striker during the current window after Theo Walcott was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. There are form and injury concerns regarding Lukas Podolski and Nicklas Bendtner, which has resulted in Olivier Giroud carrying the attacking burden as a lone forward.

In order to ease the goal scoring pressure off Giroud, Wenger targeted a loan move for Morata, who has scored a paltry 2 goals in 16 appearances this season. The deal looked dead and buried when Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti revealed he will not let the 21-year-old leave the Bernabeu on loan in January.

However, according to Metro, Real Madrid are now prepared to listen to permanent offers for their Spaniard as long as they can insert a buy-back option in his contract. The Spanish giants don’t want to send Morata out on loan, but are prepared to let him leave for a healthy £17 million provided they have an option of buying him back within the next three years.

If Wenger wants to reinforce his attacking options for the business end of the season, not only will he have to shell out a cool £17 million, he will also have to contend with interest emanating from Italy after it emerged that Juventus and Inter Milan are both interested in securing Morata’s signature.