Are Arsenal in for Morata when Real flip him?

Alvaro Morata is a hot commodity. Arsenal needs a striker. Therefore, the folks at The Guardian put two and two together and pushed a rumor today that Arsenal will be chasing after the young Spaniard as Real Madrid will look to bring him back to the Spanish capital only to flip him to another buyer at a £40m cost.

Via The Guardian:

Real Madrid have decided to activate their £23.6m buy-back option on Álvaro Morata but will then sell him on to the highest bidder for around £40m with Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain all interested in the forward.

The Guardian also goes on to bring up an old Morata quote where he thanks Jose Mourinho for giving him his shot, as if that matters considering that Mourinho is currently unemployed. Other interested parties apparently include Chelsea, PSG and funnily-enough Leicester.

Why does this rumor make sense? Well, Madrid appears to be getting ready for another big shopping spree given the rumors of a potential transfer ban and might want to round up as much cash as they can to do so. Arsenal's scoring issues this season have been well-documented and the injury to Danny Welbeck looms large. Arsenal could also be seen an attractive transfer partner given their need for Morata, money in hand and a seemingly good relationship between the clubs following the Mesut Ozil sale.

Why does it not make sense? Aside from throwing doubt on how The Guardian could possibly know what Real Madrid plans to do, Madrid has exactly one striker on its roster (a favorite transfer rumor target of Arsenal) and he's getting injury prone and will be turning 29 this summer. Morata counts as a homegrown player and Zidane has years of experience working with him as he was coming up through the system. Also, Madrid doesn't need to sell anyone to round up money for transfers given the financial strength of the club.

It's not a long shot, but there are enough question marks to remain skeptical.