Romelu Lukaku’s decision to join Manchester United has left Chelsea in a very difficult position indeed.
The Blues must have taken it for granted that they would be re-signing the 24-year-old, especially with Antonio Conte having told Diego Costa he was no longer part of his plans.
Costa is still expected to leave, and the Guardian report that Chelsea are now going to prioritise signing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid to replace the controversial striker.
The move would essentially see United and Chelsea swap places, as Jose Mourinho has been pursuing Morata for much of the summer before eventually bringing in Lukaku in a shock deal.
Morata knows Conte already, as it was the Italian who took him to Juventus in 2014.
Since returning to Real, he has struggled for a regular starting berth despite scoring 20 goals in all competitions last season.
The presence of Karim Benzema at the Bernabeu was always going to make it hard for the Spanish international to have an impact, and were he to move to Stamford Bridge, he could do so in the knowledge that he would be their number one forward.
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