Man Utd to offer Wayne Rooney as part of deal to lure Romelu Lukaku away from Everton
MANCHESTER UNITED will rival Chelsea in a straight fight for £100m-rated Romelu Lukaku after cooling their interest in Antoine Griezmann.
Posted Friday, June 02, 2017 by Express.co.uk
Romelu Lukaku is likely to leave Everton this summer
And Manchester United could use Wayne Rooney in a player-plus-cash deal in order to push through a deal with Everton.
Jose Mourinho's summer transfer priorities have changed following Zlatan Ibrahimovic's knee injury which is likely to keep him out until the New Year.
He originally wanted the diminutive but pacy Griezmann to play off Ibrahimovic but now the Swede is out of the equation his priority is a direct replacement for the No9, according to sources close to the club.
And Lukaku, who has scored 104 goals in the last five seasons, is the player at the top of United's list.
In his second spell as Chelsea boss, Mourinho sold the Belgium international to Everton for £28m in 2014 but the Merseyside club now value him at nearly four times that amount.
And Lukaku's agent Mino Raiola believes Everton are well within their right to demand a world record fee for the striker.
"In two years' time maybe £100million for a guy who makes (scores) 26 goals is a good deal," Raiola told talkSPORT.
"The market will be ruled by the people who buy so if there is a club that needs Lukaku and thinks he is worth £100m, then Everton are right (to ask for that fee)."
Torino's Andrea Belotti and Real Madrid's Alvaro Morata also fit the profile for United.
Golden Boot winner Harry Kane is hugely admired at Old Trafford but is out of the equation because Tottenham simply will not sell their star striker.
Mourinho believes that in Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Juan Mata he has players to fill the role originally envisaged for Griezmann.
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