Manchester United and Chelsea monitoring Lukaku’s contract talks

Manchester United and Chelsea have been given encouragement in their pursuit of Romelu Lukaku as contract talks with Everton grind to a halt, reports The Daily Telegraph.

Lukaku, 23, was “99.9999 per cent” certain to sign a new deal with Everton according to his agent, Mino Raiola, but the Belgium international put interested clubs on red alert after dismissing the idea of signing a new deal in the wake of their 3-0 win over West Brom at the weekend.

Chelsea were heavily linked with a move to re-sign Lukaku at the start of the summer but Everton’s firm stance on his future forced Antonio Conte’s side to look elsewhere and sign his international teammate Michy Batshuayi.

However, Chelsea, who are expected to add to their strike force in the summer, could rekindle their interest in their former striker with Lukaku reportedly unwilling to renew his Everton deal unless they include a buy-out clause worth £90m.

Ronald Koeman’s side understandably do not want to give Lukaku any potential way out of Goodison Park in the future as they look to close the gap on their top six rivals, but in playing hardball with Lukaku over a new deal, they could actually push him closer to an exit this summer.

Lukaku has scored 19 goals in the Premier League this season and will surely become the first Everton player to reach 20 goals in a league campaign since Gary Lineker.

For more stats on Romelu Lukaku, click here to visit his WhoScored player page