United look set to sign Lukaku, Rooney returning to Merseyside — Reports
LONDON: Everton’s Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku is set to join Manchester United instead of champions Chelsea for a fee of £ 75 million ( US$ 97 mil lion, 85.5 mil lion euros), according to the British media.
The move, which is not connected to any talks of a Wayne Rooney deal in the opposite direction, is expected to be formally announced this week.
United’s record goalscorer Rooney could be set for a return to the Merseyside, the club where he made his name.
Both the BBC and Press Association reported the deal was all but done for the 24-yearold Lukaku, who will be reunited with Jose Mourinho, who sold him to Everton in 2014 for £ 28 million when the Portuguese coach was in his second spell as Chelsea manager.
Everton had offered the former Anderlecht star the most lucrative contract in the club’s history after he scored 25 Premier League goals last season but he turned it down, saying he wanted to move on to another level.
This alerted several clubs to his availability with Chelsea initial ly the favourites but Mourinho – who enjoys excellent relations with his agent Mino Raiola – looks to have snatched him from under Antoni Conte’s nose.
I f t he dea l goes through Lukaku’s arrival at Old Trafford would suggest United cease their interest in signing Alvaro Morata from Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, 31-year- old Rooney who f lourished at Everton - - bursting onto the scene as a teenager and scoring 15 goals in 67 appearances – has become a peripheral figure at Manchester United since Mourinho took over last year.
Rooney, who also lost his place in the England squad, has stated the only other Premier League side he would consider joining is Everton and with apparently interest fading from China either a return to Merseyside or a move to the United States looked to be his best options.
The Daily Mail says Everton are hopeful of ‘ thrashing out a deal’ while The Guardian noted that with one year remaining on his contract, United may demand a transfer fee but not a sizeable one for the player who joined the club in 2004 for £ 27 million (30.7 million euros, $ 35 million).
The paper also said the deal would also lighten United’s annual wage bill by £13 million.
Both Rooney and United favour a permanent deal rather than a loan, although Everton may balk at the wages demands, according to the reports. — AFP