Morata on the Move? Rumors of Benfica, Liverpool Swoop for Possible Arsenal Target

Alvaro Morata is one of the prime transfer rumor strikers of the January window ... assuming that parent club Real Madrid will let the 21-year-old striker go on loan. In early December, we shared reports from multiple sources, saying that he was coming on a six-month loan. Because Real Madrid's involved, there have been questions in recent weeks about whether he'd even be allowed to go on loan, but yesterday, the London Evening Standard reported that the door was open for Morata to become a temporary Gunner. Adding to that, Kike Marin, who's had a good track record in sniffing out Spain-to-Arsenal transfer rumors that turned out to be true (Özil and Cazorla), tweeted this out:

According to @martindelp "@Arsenal told they can get Morata on loan as Real Madrid change their stance".

— Kike Marin** (@Kike_Marin_) January 9, 2014

However, it wouldn't be silly season without complications. According to ESPN FC, Liverpool's peeked in to say, "Oh, hey, what's going on here?" According to the Mirror, Benfica's saying, "Why loan him to Arsenal for six months when you can sell him to us for £7 million?"

And Wenger went into a denial mode that possibly trumps any previous denial mode he's ever been in, telling the Guardian that Arsenal is not pursuing Morata before going full-on grump. Here are the choicest quotes from the Guardian article:

"I do not want to speak about any specific names. For us it is important to prepare well for Monday night and to win the game on Monday night. The people who are in the newspapers do not help us to win the game on Monday night. It is the players who play here."

Wenger added: "The transfer market is a distraction that for me is not welcome. I think it would be much better that there is no transfer market at all in January and the team starts and finishes with the same players would be fair unless you have big injuries."

So, should we expect Morata to check into London Colney by Tuesday then?