Alvaro Morata

Arsenal's hopes of signing long-term target Alvaro Morata have been all but extinguished after his agent, Juanma Lopez, revealed the Real Madrid star is "close to joining Juventus".

The 21-year-old was very close to moving to the Emirates Stadium on loan during the January transfer window but Real manager Carlo Ancelotti blocked the deal without having a replacement.

The situation has since changed as the player has asked Real officials permission to leave the club this summer in order to secure more regular playing time.

Ancelotti himself recently confirmed they were open to negotiate a departure with Los Blancos already looking for an alternative.

"The player wants to look for an opportunity to get more minutes so the club agrees with this. If Morata leaves then we have to think about acquiring someone with the same characteristics, a young and talented striker. If he is looking for the opportunity to play it would be good for him to have opportunities for a year," Ancelotti said.

However, Real believe he still has a sparkling future at the Santiago Bernabeu and asked their suitors to include a buy-back clause in any deal.

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Arsene Wenger is desperately looking to add a striker at Arsenal and he considers Morata a good option to fight for a place with Olivier Giroud.

However, according to reports, the French boss' refusal to include that buy-back clause left Juventus as the leading candidates to secure his services.

And now Morata's agent Juanma Lopez has confirmed the news to AS: "He is now edging closer to Juventus"

The Seria A Giants are reportedly ready to pay around €15m to secure his services.

Juventus boss Antonio Conte has already expressed his admiration for Morata in a recent interview.

"I can say with certainty that he has the potential to become a world-class attacker. However, he is a Real Madrid player at this point."

Arsene Wenger