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Manchester United have beaten Chelsea to the signing of Everton and Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku by agreeing a £75 million fee, BBC Sport reports. It is believed that the deal seeing Wayne Rooney go in the opposite direction is unrelated to the Lukaku move.
Lukaku was in fine form for Everton last season, scoring 25 goals in the Premier League, a record that was only beaten by Tottenham's Harry Kane.
The Toffees were hoping to keep hold of their star striker and offered him a new contract earlier this year that would've seen him become their highest paid player in history.
Lukaku turned down that offer, explaining his desire to step up a level and play Champions League football and compete for silverware. His new team, Manchester United, are expected to come back stronger next season and challenge on all fronts.
Chelsea were the favourites to sign Lukaku this summer, with the opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to succeed at Stamford Bridge said to have appealed to 24-year-old.
However, the fact that Lukaku has the same agent as Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan made have turned out to be the deciding factor in his tempting him to Old Trafford.
Whilst Everton will be sad to see Lukaku leave Goodison Park, they will at least make a healthy profit on the £28 million that they spent on him just three years ago.
Now that a fee has been agreed, Jose Mourinho is hoping that the deal will be completed in time for Lukaku to join United's squad ahead of their pre-season trip to USA on Sunday.
Written by Matt Button
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