Chelsea and Man Utd are reportedly monitoring Romelu Lukaku’s situation at Everton, as it’s claimed that there’s a disagreement over his release clause.
The 23-year-old has been in stunning form this season, scoring 19 Premier League goals in 27 games, his best tally for a single campaign in his career so far.
Although he goes from strength to strength at Goodison Park under Ronald Koeman, speculation hasn’t disappeared over a possible move elsewhere as The Telegraph claim that Chelsea and United are keeping a close eye on his situation.
The dispute is reportedly over Everton’s insistence that the Belgian international’s release clause will not be worth under £90m, and they will not agree to a figure in the region of £60-70m as they believe that is within their rivals’ reach.
Putting in place a clause worth £90m would boost their chances of keeping Lukaku, as it ultimately forces an interested party to splash out a world-record fee to prise him away Merseyside.
It’s added that Chelsea were quoted £70m last summer, but given his form and progress this season, it’s likely that Everton are going to play ‘hard ball’ as noted in the report and stay firm on their demands of £90m.
It comes after Lukaku himself cast doubt over his future with the Telegraph noting that in an interview earlier this week he refused to acknowledge signing a new Everton contract, and so overall this isn’t what Toffees supporters want to hear about their talismanic forward.
While their Premier League rivals will have to dig very deep into their pockets to sign him, if they deem Lukaku a player who can help deliver them silverware for the next five plus years, then they arguably shouldn’t have too much of an issue splashing out as both Chelsea and United have the resources.