Manchester United could offer veteran in deal to sign Chelsea target

Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho is ready to use Wayne Rooney as a makeweight in a deal to bring Everton striker Romelu Lukaku to Old Trafford this summer, reports The Daily Mail.

In the wake of Zlatan Ibrahimovic's serious knee injury, Mourinho is determined to sign two world class strikers this summer and has reportedly earmarked Lukaku and Atletico Madrid ace Antoine Griezmann as his top choices.

The United boss previously worked with Lukaku at Chelsea before sanctioning his departure to Everton after failing to give the Belgium international assurances of regular first-team football.

Lukaku has developed into one of the best strikers in the Premier League since making a permanent switch to Everton in 2014, but has told the club he wants to leave this summer after rejecting their offer of a contract extension.

Chelsea are the frontrunners to re-sign the 24-year-old this summer but United aren’t ready to back down without a fight and Mourinho is hopeful of including Rooney, who came through the Everton academy, in a potential deal to bring Lukaku to United.

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has already confirmed throughout the season that he would be interested in brining Rooney back to Goodison Park but it remains to be seen whether he would accept the terms of this potential deal.

It would also mean Rooney would have to take a huge pay cut on his current £250,000-a-week contract that still has two years left to run, while Koeman’s side are reluctant to pay any more than £10m for Rooney, let alone the £17m that United value the 31-year-old at.

Lukaku is currently the top goalscorer in the Premier League (24), while Rooney has only scored four league goals by contrast this season.

For more stats on Wayne Rooney, click here to visit his WhoScored player page