London: Manchester United have agreed a fee with Everton for the transfer of Belgian international striker Romelu Lukaku subject to medical and personal terms, the Premier League side said on Saturday.
“#MUFC is delighted to announce a fee has been agreed with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku, subject to a medical & personal terms,” the club said on its verified Twitter feed.
“A further announcement will be made in due course,” it added.
British media reported that the fee for the 24-year-old would be around £75 million ($96.68 million; Dh356 million), making him the club’s second most expensive signing after last year’s world record deal for French midfielder Paul Pogba.
Lukaku, who also attracted interest from former club Chelsea, scored 25 league goals in 37 matches for Everton in the last campaign, four behind Tottenham Hotspur’s Golden Boot-winning striker Harry Kane.
The striker, who has also scored 20 goals for Belgium, rejected a new contract at Everton in March and will reunite with United manager Jose Mourinho, under whom he served at Chelsea.
United, meanwhile, will switch their attention to Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Eric Dier once they have completed the signing of Romelu Lukaku, adds a Daily Telegraph report. The Belgian’s move to United has ended the Old Trafford club’s bid to sign Chelsea midfielder Nemanja Matic.
Chelsea were already wary of strengthening a rival by agreeing the sale of Matic to United and manager Jose Mourinho knows there is no chance of a deal after hijacking his former club’s interest in Lukaku. United have already seen one bid for Dier rejected this summer, but talks have been continuing in the background between executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward and Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy.
Levy has refused to put a price on Dier’s head, but it is believed Spurs would listen to an offer in the region of pounds 50 million for their England international. Tottenham are under no pressure to sell Dier, or any of their other stars, and will only do business if they feel it is right.
Just as United were happy for people to assume they were going to sign Alvaro Morata while they worked on a deal for Lukaku, there is a sense that stories claiming they were on the verge of securing Matic may also have been convenient. While United’s interest in Matic was genuine, the 28-year-old Serb was only third choice on their list of targets.
Dier has always been Mourinho’s top midfield target and United have not stopped working on negotiations over the 23-year-old at any point. Should they fail to convince Levy to let them buy Dier, then Borussia Dortmund’s Julian Weigl is another possible alternative.
While happy at White Hart Lane, Dier is attracted by the promise of being given a permanent midfield spot at United, who could also double his pounds 75,000-a-week wages. Dier’s place in the back three of the Spurs team may not even be guaranteed this season, with the club searching for a new central defender.
Having missed out on Michael Keane, who was signed by Everton, Tottenham have seen one bid turned down for Swansea City’s Alfie Mawson and are considering making another. Swansea want a fee of pounds 30 million for England Under-21 international Mawson, but Spurs could try to offer Josh Onomah on loan to the Welsh club as part of a lower bid. With Kyle Walker still expected to join Manchester City, Tottenham are also in the market for a new right-back, but their interest in Porto’s Ricardo Pereira has been complicated by a dispute over who represents him.
- The Telegraph Group Limited, London 2017 & agencies
Factfile
Romelu Lukaku
Date of birth: May 13, 1993
Place of birth: Antwerp, Belgium
Nationality: Belgian
Height: 1.91m
Weight: 93kg
Position: Striker
Clubs (senior career): Anderlecht (BEL, 2009-11), Chelsea (ENG, 2011-14), West Brom (ENG, 2012/13 on loan from Chelsea), Everton (ENG, 2013/14 on loan from Chelsea - subsequently bought him 2014-17)
League goalscoring record: 85 in 186 Premier League appearances (including a club record 68 for Everton), 33 in 73 Belgian championship matches.
International caps: 60
International goals: 23
Trophies won
2009/10 - Belgian league title
Transfer fee history:
August 2011 - Chelsea paid Anderlecht initial reported fee of #10m which rose with add-ons to double that.
July 2014 - Everton paid Chelsea a club record #28m after a successful one season loan there.
July 2017 - Manchester United agree a reported #75m (including add-ons) with Everton.
Other statistics of note:
25 - In 2015/16, Lukaku became the first Everton player since Gary Lineker in 1985/86 to score 25 league goals in a single season.
8 - In the 2015/16 campaign Lukaku became the first Everton player to score in eight consecutive matches since Dave Hickson in 1954.
31 - The time (in seconds) it took him to score Everton’s fastest Premier League goal against Bournemouth last February.
