Report: Chelsea matches Manchester United's offer of about £75M for Lukaku

Manchester United reportedly isn't the only club that believes Romelu Lukaku is worth his price tag.

Chelsea matched United's offer of about £75 million for Lukaku, according to BBC Sport's Simon Stone, as the Blues made a move to re-sign the Belgian striker who represented them before joining Everton for £28 million in 2014. It was apparently thought that the RSC Anderlecht product would return to his former club, which believed itself to be in pole position to sign the footballer before the Red Devils hijacked the transfer.

Per The Telgraph's Matt Law, Chelsea will not match the fees Mino Raiola, Lukaku's agent, would earn from a transfer to United, leaving the forward with a difficult decision to make. He would need to decide between the move to the Red Devils, which his fearless negotiator orchestrated, and re-joining the Blues, who believe he'd prefer a return to Stamford Bridge.

By signing Lukaku, Chelsea would reportedly be forced to pay for taking Jose Mourinho's advice, as the Special One was the one to advise against inserting a buy-back clause in the transfer to Everton. The Blues apparently missed their chance to re-sign the striker for a cut-price fee due to the Portuguese manager being unequivocal in his belief that the footballer would not be of interest to him in two or three years' time. The irony, of course, is that the tactician's reported decision paved the way for United's apparent interest.

It was reported on Thursday that Lukaku is set for a medical in Los Angeles ahead of sealing a £75-million move to United, and that the player is expected to join the Red Devils when they arrive in the city for their pre-season tour of North America.