Manchester United and Chelsea on alert as AC Milan emerge as new front runners for Alvaro Morata

AC Milan have emerged as the new front runners to sign Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid. Marca claims Manchester United and Chelsea remain interested in the former Juventus star, but he looks set to return to Italy as the slee but he looks more likely to return to Italy as the Serie A sleeping giants look to make him the flagship signing of their new project.

Morata only returned to Real Madrid last summer after Zinedine Zidane's side activated a buy-back clause in his Juventus deal.

The Spain international has since scored 20 goals in 42 appearances for Real Madrid, helping them to beat Barcelona to La Liga and reach the Champions League final.

However, Morata is said to be frustrated with a lack of starter opportunities due to the unmovable figure of Karim Benzema.

Morata has started just 19 games throughout the whole campaign, being an unused substitute in key games such as El Clasico against Barcelona or the Champions League quarter-finals with Bayern Munich.

Morata revealed in September that Antonio Conte had tried to sign him at Chelsea in the summer and Cadena Ser recently reported the Blues was ready to make a new attempt to secure his services ahead of the 2017-18 campaign.

The popular Spanish radio station later added that Manchester United were also in the mix after Jose Mourinho personally called the Real Madrid star to sell him on a move.

The Spaniard appeared to give a major boost to Chelsea and United's hopes last month after revealing that he would like to move to the Premier League – in particular to work with Conte.

But Morata seems to have change his mind as Marca are now claiming that the Spaniard's future lies at the San Siro.

Marca claims Milan's new owner, Li Yonghong, has earmarked the Spaniard as his marque signing of the summer and would be ready to pay Real Madrid around €60m (£51.7m, $67.1m) for the striker.

Morata, according to the report, is also keen on making the move to Italy as he believes in the new Milan project. The club confirmed Europa League qualification last weekend and are expected to spend big following a frugal few years under Italian ownership.

The Spaniard wants to be the key figure in any strikeforce he joins and would have to play co-star were he to rack up at United or Chelsea. Furthermore, in addition to his familiarity with Serie A, he is about to get married to an Italian woman.