Manchester United are reportedly ‘plotting a surprise move’ to re-sign Romelu Lukaku, who Chelsea are desperate to get off the books for good.
The Belgian international left Old Trafford for Inter Milan for a fee of £74m in 2019, before re-joining Chelsea for a then-club record of £97.5m.
Lukaku has never lived up to his mammoth price tag at Stamford Bridge though and only spent the 2021-22 campaign there, before being loaned back to Inter Milan, and then Roma last season.
He has always seemed most comfortable in Italy and scored an impressive 21 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions for Roma last season.
The 31-year-old is under contract with Chelsea until 2026, on a staggering weekly wage of a reported £325,000 per week, and the Blues are desperate to find a buyer for him as they have no plans to reintegrate him into their squad.
His sky-high wages have always made that difficult though as no club, perhaps except some in Saudi Arabia, is willing to match them.
Man Utd ‘plot move’ for Lukaku; Zirkzee the clear option
As we have consistently reported, Sir Jim Ratcliffe has made signing a new striker one of his priorities for the window, and sporting director Dan Ashworth has now been tasked with delivering one.
However, Lukaku simply does not fit the profile of player that the Red Devils are looking for.
A move for Bologna centre-forward Joshua Zirkzee is much more likely. Erik ten Hag has given his green light to a move for the Dutchman and the Red Devils are ‘very confident’ of securing a deal despite competition from AC Milan.
Zirkzee earns just £18,600 per week with Bologna so his salary demands will be nothing compared to Lukaku’s.
The 23-year-old, who is currently away on international duty at Euro 2024 with the Netherlands, has a release clause of £33m in his contract.
Zirkzee’s agent, Kia Joorabchian, will demand a commission of roughly £13m though, taking the total fee to £46m.
