Man Utd ready to stun Chelsea and hijack move for £100m striker

Rob McCarthy

Manchester United are reportedly ready to stun Chelsea and hijack Romelu Lukaku’s £100million switch to Stamford Bridge.

Jose Mourinho is said to be closing in on the biggest deal of the summer, and what would be a world record transfer fee, by landing the Everton hitman ahead of the reigning Premier League champuions.

Lukaku, who scored 26 goals last season, had been expected to head back to Chelsea this summer but relations are reportedly poor between the Blues and the Toffees after Chelsea’s failed efforts to sign John Stones two years ago.

Indeed, the exclusive report in the Daily Mail also claims that former Goodison Park favourite Wayne Rooney will be used as a makeweight in the transfer.

The former England captain is closing in on a return to the club he left 13 years ago, with a number of options currently being discussed, including United paying up the remaining two years of Rooney’s contract and allowing him to leave on a free, and a season-long loan which would see the two clubs share his mammoth £230,000-a-week wages.

As for United’s hopes of landing a top class striker this summer, it would now appear that Lukaku has jumped ahead of Alvaro Morata as their top target.

It had looked as if the Spain striker would definitely head to Old Trafford this summer, but the most recent reports claim that Real now want €90million (£79m) for the player while United’s most recent, and almost certainly final offer was £70m.