Manchester united have agreed a £75million fee for Romelu Lukaku and expect to wrap up a deal in time for the Everton striker to join them on their US tour.
United manager Jose Mourinho has moved quickly to hijack Chelsea's pursuit of Lukaku and has now aborted his pursuit of Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata.
Lukaku's
move is not linked to that of Wayne Rooney, but United will waive any
transfer fee to help facilitate a deal as their captain nears a return
to Everton in a separate agreement.
Chelsea were thought to be front of the
queue to sign Lukaku, who scored 26 goals last season, but he will be
heading for Old Trafford once personal terms are agreed and is expected
to join up with United when they fly on Sunday.
Mourinho
is bringing the 24-year-old forward in to replace Zlatan Ibrahimovic
and will now ditch the chase of Morata having secured his top target.
Lukaku
was sold by Mourinho, who was then Chelsea manager, to Everton three
years ago but is keen to work again with the Belgium international.
Relations between Everton and Chelsea have
soured since the Premier League champions' failed move to sign John
Stones in 2015 and now United have pounced.
Lukaku
will become the third Mino Raiola client on the books at Old Trafford
alongside close friend Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Mourinho also
signed Ibrahimovic, another member of Raiola's client list, last summer.
Meanwhile, Everton are hopeful of
thrashing out a move for Rooney with United ready to waive a transfer
fee for the England striker having reached an agreement on Lukaku's
move.
There is a willingness on behalf
of Everton, United and the Rooney camp to strike a deal, and his club
have now found a compromise which could push a move through.
Everton
have always been Rooney's preference ahead of a move to China or
America, and he confirmed after United's win in the Europa League final
in May that they were the only club he would play for after leaving Old
Trafford.
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