Manchester United gazump Chelsea to agree £75m deal for Lukaku

Manchester United have gazumped Premier League rivals Chelsea to agree a staggering £75m deal for Everton striker Romelu Lukaku, reports BBC Sport.

Lukaku, 23, has been heavily linked with a move away from Everton all year after turning down the club’s attempts to extend his stay at Goodison Park midway through last season.

The Belgium international was widely expected to re-join Chelsea this summer but Antonio Conte’s side have been reluctant in matching Everton’s staggering valuation of the striker to allow United to hi-jack the deal.

With Wayne Rooney set to re-join Everton 13 years after leaving his boyhood club to join United, Jose Mourinho have used the England captain as a bargaining chip to prize Lukaku to Old Trafford.

Lukaku, who is currently on holiday with United midfielder Paul Pogba, will hope to agree terms and complete his medical in time to join the rest of the squad for their pre-season tour of America this weekend.

The Red Devils have been negotiating with Real Madrid for the transfer of Alvaro Morata but the European champions have missed out on a big transfer after trying to get in excess of €80m (£70.2m) for a player that spent most of last season on the bench.

In the last two Premier League campaigns only Harry Kane (54), Sergio Aguero (44) have scored more goals than Lukaku (43).

For more stats on Romelu Lukaku, click here to visit his WhoScored player page