Arsenal transfer news: Real Madrid slap hefty price tag on Arsenal target Alvaro Morata

Gunners will have to splash out £24m for striker

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata (GETTY IMAGES)

Real Madrid want £24m for Arsenal target Alvaro Morata, according to reports in the Spanish media.

The 21-year-old striker is in high demand after manager Carlo Ancelotti said he expected him to leave Madrid this summer.

Morata made only five starts for the Champions League winners last season and was linked with a January move to Arsenal, but expressed a desire to stay and fight for his place.

The striker's contract at the club ends next summer and although Ancelotti has hinted that a loan deal for the player might be most likely, it is also understood that the club will consider big offers for Morata.

Madrid are thought to be willing to lower their price demands on the condition that a repurchase clause is inserted into the deal.

However it is understood that potential suitors Arsenal and Wolfsburg are unwilling to agree to to such a clause and not prepared to spend as much as £24m on the player.

Morata's team are thought to be keen to press on with any deal as soon as possible, not waiting for the end of the World Cup.