Jose Mourinho reveals why Manchester United pulled out of a deal for Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata

The clubs were locked in negotiations for much of the summer before Romelu Lukaku joined

Alvaro Morata had emerged as United's top target for the summer (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has revealed that Manchester United were priced out of a move for Alvaro Morata by Real Madrid before signing Romelu Lukaku from Everton.

United insisted Lukaku was their “principle target” this summer despite having been locked in negotiations with Madrid since it became apparent that Antoine Griezmann would not join at the start of June.

United were only willing to go as high as £60m for the Spaniard but Real Madrid wanted around £75m as they looked to fund a move for Monaco forward Kylian Mbappe.

Both clubs are currently in Los Angeles on their preseason tours of the United States and are due to face each other later this month before doing battle in the Uefa Super Cup next month.

“I don’t like to speak about players who aren’t ours because Morata is not our player. I am nobody to speak about players from Real Madrid,” Mourinho said.

“Yes, we have had interest, that is obvious and it’s public. We have not come to an economic agreement, that is obvious as well. But it’s a Real Madrid’s right to ask for their players the amount of money that they want.

“We do not determine what the price is of a player of Real Madrid, Real Madrid do that.

“And we didn’t arrive at an agreement with Real Madrid. I do not criticise Madrid and I am not going to criticise my board because my board has made the offer, and they have tried to reach an agreement during a time, and they didn’t come to an agreement. It’s simple.”