Ronald Koeman has held face-to-face talks with Wayne Rooney in a bid to smooth what could be Everton’s headline summer signing, according to the Times.
The newspaper claim that the Merseysiders are pushing hard to sign the Manchester United captain on a permanent transfer and that he could sign for them in part-exchange for Romelu Lukaku.
The Times report that Rooney would represent £10million of what would be a sensational £100million transfer that would value Lukaku at £90million, made up of an initial transfer fee of £75million plus £15million of “easily achievable” performance-related add-ons.
It is is said that manager Koeman has met with Rooney, 31, to explain the club’s desire to sign him and that he will have a huge role in the team next season if he signs.
The Dutchman is convinced that England and United’s record scorer would be re-energised by a sensational return to Goodison Park, where he quit 13 years ago to join the 20-times league champions for £27million.
Koeman bought Sandro Ramires from Malaga at the start of the week and has been strongly linked with Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud but intends to use Rooney as a striker in his team.
Everton are not proposing to match Rooney’s current salary, which the Times report is worth £16million-a-year including bonuses and image rights, equivalent to £308,000-a-week.
The Merseysiders have been the Premier League’s biggest spenders so far this summer, signing six players for £97million.