If reports are to be believed, Manchester United are closing in on signing Alvaro Morata.

With a proposed deal for Antoine Griezmann falling through, Jose Mourinho switched his focus of signing and out-and-out forward to replace the outgoing Zlatan Ibrahimovic, rather than the Atleti forward.

And it was believed there were three candidates on Mourinho’s wishlist - Romelu Lukaku, Andrea Belotti and Morata.

But which one would the Portuguese boss pursue?

Well, it seems as though it will be Morata with it being claimed United have already had a £52 million bid rejected for the Spaniard.

Of course, Mourinho knows Morata very well.

They worked together at Real Madrid, with Mourinho actually giving the forward his debut during the 2010/11 campaign.

Morata went on to play a further 17 times for Los Blancos under Mourinho, with ‘The Special One’ playing a very important role in his development.

And the 24-year-old is fully aware what Mourinho did for him during his early years and didn’t hide his admiration for him when he left the Bernabeu in 2013.

What Morata said about Mourinho

When Mourinho swapped Madrid for Chelsea, Morata paid tribute to the out-going manager.

"I think Mourinho is a great coach, he has given me the opportunity and I wish him and the coaching staff a lot of luck in their new stage," he said.

"I think he has trusted us from the first day he arrived, Has given us confidence, has made us better players and we have to thank him.

"I would like to continue in Madrid, but it will depend on the coach to come and if he has me.”

Given that Mourinho is a “great coach,” it’s probably not surprising to see Morata wanting to re-unite with him in Manchester.

But Zinedine Zidane isn’t prepared to let him leave easily. After all, Morata scored 20 goals in all competitions as Real completed a brilliant La Liga and Champions League double.