Alvaro Morata says he has ‘quite a few options’ this summer after being linked with a move to Arsenal.
The Spaniard, 29, is looking for a new club after his two-year loan spell at Juventus came to an end, with the Serie A side having rejected the option to sign him permanently.
Morata has one year left on his contract at Atletico Madrid and the Gunners, who are seeking a new striker to replace Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, have been rumoured with a bid for the centre-forward.
Speaking on Thursday after scoring in Spain’s 1-1 draw with Portugal in the UEFA Nations League, Morata said: ‘I have quite a few options. It’s not up to me, I can’t do anything about it.
‘My wife and children will follow me wherever I need to go. I do have preferences and options, but I want to go where the club love me the most and value me.’
In the past decade, Morata has played for a host of Europe’s elite clubs including Real Madrid and Chelsea.
Despite often struggling to hold down a regular starting place, he has made over 400 appearances at club level, scoring nearly 200 goals.
His experience could appeal to Mikel Arteta, who is targeting a new striker with Alexandre Lacazette said to be leaving the club to re-join Lyon this summer.
Eddie Nketiah was also set to depart the Emirates with his contract running out but may do a U-turn after hitting a purple patch towards the end of last season.
The north Londoners are thought to be interested in Manchester City’s Gabriel Jesus. However, securing the Brazilian could prove difficult with arch-rivals Tottenham also in the race for his signature.
Speaking earlier this year, Arteta revealed the qualities he is looking for in Arsenal’s new striker.
The Gunners boss said: ‘He puts the ball in the net, that’s priority number one. Goal threat. Any successful team needs enough goal threat in the squad.
‘Without it, you have nothing. You can play good football but you need enough goal threat in the team.
‘The other thing is that he has to complement the other people we have, personally and on the pitch, and for that, we need the right profile.
‘We need a profile where you can exploit his qualities at the same time as the qualities we already have, so we don’t have to transform our way of playing again to adapt to that specific player.’
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