Atletico Madrid ready to fund Alvaro Morata salary by selling summer signing Nikola Kalinic

Atleti want Morata on loan, but have to clear some space on the wage bill and selling Kalinic would help

Ed Malyon
Thursday 10 January 2019 14:06 GMT
Comments
January transfer window 2019: Premier League transfer round-up

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Atletico Madrid are ready to sell summer signing Nikola Kalinic in a bid to fund Alvaro Morata's wages.

Chelsea are preparing to let the Spanish international go out on loan this month to rediscover his form and hopefully restore some value after his thus-fair unimpressive £60m move to Stamford Bridge.

The club-record signing has a number of offers of which the most appealing would be a return to Madrid with Atleti , but Diego Simeone's side is firmly up against its salary limit and would need to clear some space in order to get close to Morata's £200k per week package.

In looking for the flexibility to be able to incorporate Morata, Gelson Martins and, particularly, Nikola Kalinic have become available.

While Atletico still hope the Portuguese winger will come good, Kalinic was a cut-price summer signing who has played just 400 minutes in La Liga since make a cut-price move from AC Milan.

Alvaro Morata will leave Chelsea this month
Alvaro Morata will leave Chelsea this month (AFP/Getty Images)

The Croatian was this week voted the worst signing in Serie A last season - the dreaded 'Golden Bin' award - after receiving 49% of fan votes.

But that hasn't deterred Monaco, who are looking for experience and quality to play alongside their young talents. Cesc Fabregas is waiting to confirm his move to the principality, while Kalinic could be the next man in at the Stade Louis II should Morata and Atletico come to an agreement for the rest of this season.

Chelsea are chasing Gonzalo Higuain to replace Morata, though Callum Wilson of Bournemouth is also an option should Milan not let Higuain cut his loan short from Juventus.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in