Arsenal 'have made an offer to Atletico for Morata' despite chasing Jesus

Arsenal have reportedly been hedging their bets over signing Gabriel Jesus by also making an offer for former Chelsea flop Alvaro Morata.

The 29-year-old, whose parent club is Atletico Madrid, has spent the last two years on long-term loan at Juventus, who are keen to make the arrangement permanent this summer.

But according to Tuttomercatoweb, the Gunners have also made an offer for Morata as Mikel Arteta weighs up his options to bolster his attack. Since re-joining Juventus on loan in 2020, Morata has scored 32 goals in 92 appearances.

The Old Lady is pressing to keep Morata permanently having already lost Paulo Dybala to rivals Inter, but they are also welcoming Paul Pogba back to the club, which is likely to be a costly move despite there being no transfer fee.

Arteta has made signing a striker a priority this summer after losing both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. While news of Eddie Nketiah putting pen to paper on a new long-term deal is welcome, it is clear Arsenal need more depth up front.

The news regarding Morata is likely to raise some eyebrows among the Arsenal faithful, who will remember only too well the Spaniard's disastrous stint across the capital at Chelsea.

Arriving from Real Madrid and having scored a reasonable 11 goals in 31 Premier Leagues in his first season in 2017/18, Morata faded badly in his second season, managing just 16 league appearances and only five goals.

He was widely derided as not having the physical capabilities to contend in the Premier League, a claim that dogged his time at the Blues and ultimately led to him departing for Atletico in 2019.

Arteta is not afraid to splash the cash this summer, with reports that he is also looking at Tammy Abraham as another potential option.