Everton striker Romelu Lukaku 'not thinking' of exit amid Manchester United speculation

Everton forward Romelu Lukaku is not thinking of leaving Goodison Park after firing the Merseyside club into the last four of the FA Cup. The Belgium international has previously been linked with a move to Manchester United, but those overtures were far from his mind after his double downed former club Chelsea.

The 22-year-old struck twice in the space of five second-half minutes as Roberto Martinez's side joined Crystal Palace and Watford in the semi-finals, due to be played at Wembley in April. The brace took Lukaku's tally for the season to 25, the highest number of goals he has mustered since making the move to England.

Such a rapid improvement has seen him linked with a move to United, but The Sun understands Everton have slapped a £65m ($93m) valuation on their leading striker in an attempt to warn off interest in the forward. And in a boost to supporters just two months before the transfer window officially opens, Lukaku says he has no thoughts about a move to Old Trafford or elsewhere.

"I don't think about that," he said, according to Sky Sports. "As a player, individually, I am doing my best. I have grown as a player, as a man, and as an individual. Technically I became stronger, faster, better and my performances are better.

"It is not like I play three games great and six games bad, I have always been good this year and this is something I wanted. If you look at all the big players in the league they do it from day one to the 38th game of the season and that is what I want to do.

"With every goal I score this year there is something happening. I just want the team to win. Whoever scores, whoever delivers, we are all happy. I want to be there for my team. Even if we lose I want to be the one who pulls the strings.

"I just think about Arsenal next week. I just want to win against them and then I go to the national team and play a big game against Portugal. I am happy to be having a good season and I just want to improve and do even better next year."

United's transfer activity during the upcoming summer is shrouded in uncertainty with manager Louis van Gaal's future under a cloud. Furthermore, the emergence of Marcus Rashford could result in the club looking to improve other areas of their squad other than their forward line, with Wayne Rooney and Anthony Martial also available.

Nevertheless, should Lukaku be lured away from Everton it would likely require a British record fee to do so and Martinez therefore believes the move would be as a result of the modern game. "If Manchester United cannot keep Cristiano Ronaldo, that is a sign of a modern game," he said, according to The Guardian. "If you sell a player for those sorts of amounts, you can get the benefit of adding three or four players."