Alvaro Morata was behind only Lionel Messi as La Liga's deadliest striker last season... but should Manchester United really sign him for £60million?

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The number seven shirt may have a special place in Manchester United history, but, over the last 25 years at least, it's a bit of a different story for another famous number: the nine.

Indeed, in the last few years it has become something of a curse. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the last man to don the number nine but saw his season and indeed entire career at Old Trafford wrecked by injury last time around. 

Before him, Anthony Martial and Radamel Falcao both tried and failed to lead United's attack. Dimitar Berbatov and Louis Saha both had their highs and lows but were never truly the main men. 

Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata has emerged as Manchester United's top target this summer

Morata had a spell with Juventus before returning to Real, has struggled for game time

You have to go back to Ruud van Nistelrooy (who actually wore number 10 but was as true a nine as there ever was) and before him Andy Cole to find out-and-out strikers who delivered goals regularly on a long-term basis. 

Now it looks like United boss Jose Mourinho is trying to right that wrong. 

Real Madrid forward Alvaro Morata has been linked with a move to the Red Devils as part of £60million transfer. That is enough to make him the club's third most expensive player ever. 

Mourinho got to know Morata from his time at Real Madrid and could take a gamble on him 

Stuck behind Madrid's own number nine, Karim Benzema, the Spaniard is seeking regular first team action - something which could be on offer at Old Trafford with Ibrahimovic out of the way and Wayne Rooney potentially leaving. 

However, there are some major questions to answer beforehand. The first question is simply; is he worth £60million? 

The first thing to note is that £60million for a player capable of scoring regularly is a steal. Simply put, scorers are worth their weight in gold. 

Since the start of 2010, only seven players players have managed to score 25 goals or more in a single Premier League campaign, three of which are no longer in the league (Didier Drogba, Robin van Persie and Luis Suarez), while one could be on his way out in Rooney.

That leaves Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku and Sergio Aguero as the only truly 'elite' strikers in the division. A grand total of three. Lukaku is being priced at £100million by Everton, while Tottenham reportedly laughed at the thought of taking the same fee from United.  

A glance around Europe tells the same story. How much would Robert Lewandowski cost? More than £60million. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is close to moving to China for £80million. Gonzalo Higuain cost Juventus £75million. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are on a different planet entirely.

Morata has popped up with key goals in his career, including in the 2015 Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid as well as the final against Barcelona the same year

He also found the back of the net against Manchester City for Juventus in 2015

The game is increasingly complicated these days but goals and goalscorers remain the most precious commodity of all. So, by that logic, if United believe Morata is the man for the job, £60million shouldn't bother them too much, especially given their financial resources. Of course the scarcity of supply compared to demand has driven his price up but it is by no means eye watering in comparison to others.  

The next logical question, and it really is the big one, is; can Morata be a truly elite goal scorer?

There are, of course, complications and variations to the answer; namely how Mourinho would use him and whether he'd fit into his system. Mourinho loves a goal scorer having managed, Drogba at Chelsea, Samuel Eto'o at Inter and Ronaldo at Madrid, so it's probably safe to assume he's looking for a focal point and will play to Morata's strengths if he does sign on the dotted line.

But while he's scored key goals, the opportunity to play regularly hasn't come his way yet

Unfortunately for Mourinho it's a bit of a Catch 22 situation. If he was an established, proven scorer he would either cost more than £60million or more likely wouldn't be available. 

But there's not quite enough evidence to suggest he is that just yet, so Mourinho is being forced to take a leap of faith. Morata has simply never really been given the chance to be the star and the sample size is too small to say with any confidence he can be that.

In his two seasons with Juventus he managed just 15 league goals and jostled for position alongside Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente, then Mario Mandzukic and Paulo Dybala. 

His record for Madrid last season was impressive but once again the sample size was small. 15 goals in 26 games including just 14 starts is an impressive return. 

That only tells part of the story though; his goals came at one every 89 minutes last season. Only Messi scored at a better rate than that (a goal every 77 minutes he played), but while the Barcelona superstar took 4.8 shots for every goal he scored, Morata needed just 3.6 shots to score. 

Ibrahimovic needed almost seven shots to score a goal, while Lukaku needed 4.5 and Kane needed 3.9. 

Manchester United's last number nine, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, played well but has left the club

Ruud van Nistelrooy was the club's last great 'number nine', although he wore number ten

Andy Cole wore the number nine with distinction at the beginning of the Premier League era

So in that respect, Morata's effectiveness in front of goal is right up there with the very best in the Premier League - at least it was last season. 

There are, of course, some doubts over the quality of the opposition in La Liga; plus Morata operates as a penalty box predator and is an excellent header of the ball so he will be reliant on others teeing him up rather than creating chances himself. 

If he does move to Manchester he will go from a Madrid side that scored 106 league goals last season and created 552 goal scoring chances altogether, to a United one that scored 54 times and created more than 100 chances less than the Spanish giants (449). 

United struggled badly for creativity last season and unless new additions arrive it could be a bit of a slog next season should Morata arrive; he won't be in a team that is relentlessly dominant and that will harm his chances of racking up the goals straight away.

Mourinho's side struggled to create last season and the manage is looking to change that

He doesn't possess any outstanding physical gifts that may help him out in the rough and tumble of the Premier League, but his movement is intelligent and he's instinctive as a first time finisher.  Mourinho's most successful strikers - Drogba, Ronaldo, Eto'o - all had something special physically about them, be it speed or power - so Morata represents something of a change of tack. 

Mourinho has had the chance to take a close look at his target in the past and is, according to reports, going to bat for him by pushing executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward to sign him. 

Relative to what else is on the market and the fee, which for a club of United's size is no issue, it's worth the gamble. There is, however, no guarantee he will be a success.