Florentino Perez is reportedly seeking to bank a fee of €80 million for Morata, which would make the 24-year-old the seventh most-expensive player in history if Perez does indeed get that asking fee. But the chances of United paying not far off what they received when they sent Cristiano Ronaldo in the opposite direction in 2009 for a player with 70 career goals at club level to his name is remote.

Morata's bargaining stance has been strengthened by his most successful season to date. A goal a game on average in La Liga in 2016-17 and one every 66 minutes in Europe for a total of 20 in all competitions -- bettering his previous best mark of 15 while at Juventus in 2014-15 and in 430 fewer minutes -- was an eye-catching return.

That Karim Benzema played 1,367 more minutes for a return of 19 goals, two of which came at the FIFA Club World Cup, further established Morata as Madrid's most lethal No. 9 last season. Benzema lacked consistency over the course of the campaign and completed 90 minutes on just six occasions in the league, a situation that will escalate as he approaches his 30th birthday in December.

Morata has stated, through his agent, that he wants more playing time but that may not be guaranteed even if he does leave the Bernabeu. Jose Mourinho is likely to shop for more than one striker this summer, with Marcus Rashford currently his only option following the release of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Wayne Rooney's demotion to a part-time midfield role.

Stay and Morata has the opportunity to become Real Madrid's first-choice centre-forward, if he has the patience to outlast Benzema. That may take a season or two, but time is on the canterano's side. So too, more importantly, are Perez and Zinedine Zidane. Nobody is pushing him toward the door and the exorbitant price tag Real have attached to the striker is a clear message for anybody who wishes to decipher it, Morata included. The player has also stated that he wants to remain at Madrid and, as a fan favourite and a home-grown talent, it is in the club's interest both on the pitch and off it to do everything they can to ensure that happens.

Zidane said after Morata came off the bench to secure victory against Athletic Bilbao last October that he would start to get more playing time, but during the course of 2016-17 that did not quite come to pass. Morata ended the season as the 18th most-used player in Zidane's squad, ahead only of outcasts James Rodriguez and Fabio Coentrao, the oft-crocked Pepe and bit-part striker Mariano.

That led to claims that Morata felt promises had been broken, but next season could present a very different panorama. Benzema is not yet a fading force but the ravages of a 50-game season are something the Frenchman is increasingly ill-equipped to endure. Zidane will still lean toward his compatriot for the big games, but he can hand Morata an abundance of appeasing starts while also preserving Benzema, who in any case doesn't give the impression of being that bothered by the occasional afternoon off when the opposition isn't top-tier.

Neither should Morata's decision be swayed by the World Cup. Spain coach Julen Lopetegui is an unswerving admirer of the player who fired his Under-21 side to glory in Israel in 2013, and Morata is guaranteed a place on the plane for Russia unless he plays even less frequently in 2017-18. Zidane's policy of rotation and Perez's desire to hold on to a product of La Fabrica dictate that will not be the case.

Morata remains the only purchase Zidane has made during his tenure and the Real manager has shown little inclination to add to his squad in the last 18 months, preferring to promote from within. Unless Monaco's Kylian Mbappe arrives, Morata has a genuine chance of elbowing his way to the front of the queue for the starting striker role in a relatively short time frame. Whether that will be enough to persuade him to stay is something Zidane and Perez will have to gift wrap.

In the meantime, Morata should beware that "the grass will unquestionably be greener" anywhere other than the Bernabeu after failing to nail down a regular starting place in two seasons at Juventus.