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48 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 JULY 2017 FOOTBALL Fee agreed for Romelu Lukaku transfer from Everton to Man United MANCHESTER United have an- nounced a fee has been agreed with Everton for the transfer of striker Romelu Lukaku, subject to a medical and personal terms. The Red Devils are understood to have struck a deal worth an initial £75million with the Merseysiders for the Belgium international. The 24-year-old scored 25 goals in the Premier League last season for the Toffees but appears set to move to Old Trafford, subject to passing a medical and agreeing personal terms. A statement on United's web- site read: "Manchester United is delighted to announce that it has agreed a fee with Everton for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku. "A further announcement will be made in due course." Lukaku has also been the subject of interest from former club Chel- sea but United have made their move in a bid to reunite him with manager Jose Mourinho. United are due to fly to Califor- nia on Sunday to start their pre- season tour against the Los Ange- les Galaxy the following weekend and Lukaku, who has been on holi- day on the west coast of America, is staying in the United States for the time being. Lukaku has been holidaying with close friend and United midfielder Paul Pogba and early on Friday morning the Red Devils' £89mil- lion world-record signing posted an Instagram story of the pair training together in Los Angeles. Reports on Friday night suggest- ed Chelsea had matched United's bid for the former Anderlecht forward, but the Premier League champions appear to have been pipped to the post. News that a £75m transfer had been agreed for the in-demand striker broke on Thursday morn- ing but senior Everton sources re- buffed the claims. Now it appears a matter of when, not if, Lukaku will swap Goodison Park for pastures new in a deal that is reported to be worth around £100m in total. Press Association Sport under- stands talks are also gathering pace for Wayne Rooney's return to Everton from Old Trafford. Despite United sources initially denying Rooney's departure was linked to the Lukaku transfer, reports on Friday suggested the club's record goalscorer will be included in the package - consist- ing of a £75m fee up front, £15m in add-ons and a £10m valuation of their own striker. Pogba posted a comment on his official Instagram page, saying: "See you tomorrow in training @ rlukaku9 #bienvenue #AgentP". Romelu Lukaku Wolves smash transfer record to sign Ruben Neves WOLV ES have smashed their transfer record to sign Ruben Ne- ves from Porto and confirmed a loan deal for defender Willy Boly. Defensive midfielder Neves has signed a five-year deal for around £15million to link up with former manager Nuno Espirito Santo. Boly follows Neves from Porto and has penned a season-long loan deal as the Sky Bet Cham- pionship side continue to revamp their squad. The club are also close to sign- ing former Norwich goalkeeper John Ruddy on a free transfer af- ter Carl Ikeme's shock leukaemia diagnosis. Portugal international Neves made 76 appearances for Porto and the fee tops the £12million Wolves paid for Helder Costa in January. "I'm very excited to play at this club," he told the club's official site. "It is a very big club and I hope to help the team to win their goals. "I have always wanted to play in England and we have a good team. I think we can do good things this season." Nuno played Neves 16 times at Porto last season, including in their 5-0 Champions League win over Leicester, while the mid- fielder also made three appear- ances for Portugal 's Under-21 side at Euro 2017. "Ruben is a very good player who can bring new things to our squad," said Nuno. "I know him well, I worked with him last year - he's a good player. "When a player is captain of a big team like Porto in a Champi- ons League game at such a young age, it means a lot. "He was very pleased to come here, it's a good challenge for him." Boly made five appearances for Porto last season after joining from Braga last August. Former England international Ruddy is also set to sign after they made a late move to beat Sunderland to the goalkeeper. Birmingham and Aston Villa were also interested in Ruddy, who earned one England cap against Italy in 2012. Ruddy left Norwich this sum- mer after seven years at Carrow Road and will join Wolves' pre- season trip to Austria with the club still dealing with Ikeme's diagnosis. The 31-year-old goalkeeper is a popular member of the dressing room and will start treatment immediately. Ruben Neves Even offer of £100m wouldn't land Naby Keita LIVERPOOL'S hopes of per- suading RB Leipzig to part with highly-rated midfielder Naby Keita have been dealt an- other blow. The Anfield club have been linked with a move for the Guinea international all sum- mer and reports claim he wants to leave. However Leipzig sporting di- rector Ralf Rangnick said even a world-record bid wouldn't persuade them to sell their prize asset. "None of our players has an exit clause this season, there is no pain limit - even in the three-digit (£100m) range," he said during a press conference. "We will not give (sell) a regular player and it does not matter if someone says he does not know where to play next season. It's enough if we know it."

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