Wenger Contacts Zidane to Help Arsenal Sign Real Madrid Striker Alvaro Morata

Arsenal are considering a move to sign their long-term target Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid this summer, according to the Mirror.

The report claims the Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has held talks with the Spanish club's legend and Carlo Ancelotti's assistant Zinedine Zidane. France's World Cup winning hero is also Real's sporting director.

According to the Spanish newspaper AS, Real are willing to sanction the sale of their player this summer by inserting a buyback clause in the deal. The Gunners are not willing to agree to the terms, which could allow the La Liga giants re-sign their player.

Arsenal is unwilling to agree Real's terms of a buyback clause, which will allow them to land Morata after three years. Alternatively, the Champions League winners would be looking to sanction the sale of Morata if the interested clubs could meet their £25m asking price.

The 21-year-old has long been linked with the north London club, and their neighbours Tottenham Hotspur and Serie A winners Juventus are also keen on landing the striker. The buyback clause has seen the Italian outfit withdraw their interest in Morata.

The French manager believes Morata's potential switch to the Emirates will be beneficial for the player's development. Wenger is hoping to convince Zidane to help the Gunners to seal a desperate move for the striker's services.

Morata's agent Juanma Lopez had earlier admitted that his client was attracting interest from a lot of clubs across Europe and the Spanish striker would prefer a switch to Italy.

"There are many clubs in Europe that want to sign Morata. He has a lot of admirers. All I can say is that he likes the idea of Italy as a destination very much," AS quoted Lopez as saying.

The striker's representative's comments had seen him being linked with a move to Juventus. However, Real president Florentino Perez has ruled out any possibility of Morata joining the Turin club.

"I am friends with the Juventus executives and president Andrea Agnelli. But I have not spoken to them regarding Morata and, honestly, the possibilities that he goes to play in Turin are zero," Perez said.

With the Spanish capital club's latest comments on Morata, it has kept Arsenal's hope of signing the striker still alive.