Man Utd make shock plan to re-sign Chelsea flop with Red Devils ‘agreement close’ for striker signing

Romelu Lukaku has been linked with a return to Man Utd

Premier League side Man Utd have a plan in place to re-sign Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku this summer, according to reports.

The Belgium international had a decent scoring record at Old Trafford during a two-season spell between 2017 and 2019 with 42 goals in 96 matches in all competitions for Man Utd.

However, former players, pundits and supporters were often critical of his performances in a Red Devils shirt and he eventually returned to Chelsea via a two-year stretch at Inter Milan.

It hasn’t worked out for him at Chelsea either with Lukaku spending the last two seasons out on loan at Serie A sides Inter Milan and Roma, with the Belgian scoring 21 goals in 47 appearances for the latter in 2023/24.

His early-season form for Roma had Joe Cole frustrated at Chelsea for not keeping him at Stamford Bridge as the Blues struggled to score goals.

And now reports in Italy insist Man Utd ‘are waiting’ for Lukaku with claims that Napoli – who want to sign the 31-year-old – ‘must hurry up and sell [Victor] Osimhen if they want to be sure of being able to sign the Belgian’.

Man Utd have been linked with a lot of forwards this summer but interest in Bologna striker Joshua Zirkzee seems to be concrete, with claims that the Red Devils are now ‘close to an agreement’ with Bologna.

MORE MAN UTD COVERAGE ON F365…

Man Utd ‘agree’ to pay £34m for defender Ten Hag is ‘obsessed’ with as Real Madrid ‘confirm farewell’

Romano reveals Man Utd have been given ‘green light’ to secure first summer signing

Man Utd ‘feeling’ on Greenwood, Sancho ‘returns’ revealed as Ratcliffe targets £85m double sale

Bologna technical director Giovanni Sartori recently admitted that Zirkzee will almost certainly depart the Serie A club this summer amid interest from all over Europe.

Sartori said: “Zirkzee has a clause so he will leave 99.9 per cent.

“I have known the market for many years and I believe there is a strong possibility that he could leave. He is a great player and attackers are highly sought-after. We’ve been thinking about it for months because replacing him will be very difficult, but we’ll try. We have a few names and we’ll work to replace him.”

And transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists the only thing holding up a move for Zirkzee is the salary and commission that Man Utd are willing to pay.

Romano told GiveMeSport: “For Joshua Zirkzee it’s different, because Manchester United already two weeks ago made contact with people close to the player to understand how the deal works.

“So how long is the release clause valid for this summer? It’s until mid-August, so they still have plenty of time in case they want to activate the release clause for €40million.

“They wanted to understand the conditions of the deal on the player’s side, so it’s about the salary and it’s about the commission.”