Romelu Lukaku reveals Manchester United were interested in him for 18 months

Manchester United's new signing Romelu Lukaku has revealed that the Red Devils were interested in him for over 18 months. Lukaku has been in touch with the manager over the course of the last few months and is excited at the prospect of playing under the Portuguese manager yet again after being sold to Everton in 2014.

The Belgian has been in brilliant form last season, scoring 25 league goals, second only to Harry Kane and is expected to add some much-needed power and strength to the United front line. The 24-year-old is United's second first-team signing of the window, having already completed a deal for Victor Lindelof from Benfica.

The striker is expected to have set United back by a fee in the range of £75m ($96.5m). He is believed to have signed a five-year contract that includes the option for a further 12-month extension. Lukaku has joined up with the squad for United's pre-season tour of the US after working in Los Angeles with Paul Pogba.

The Red Devils are yet to confirm Lukaku's squad number, although it is expected that he will be handed the number nine shirt which has been vacated by Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

"I knew from the interest of United for about a year and half," he told NBC Sport's Beyond The Pitch podcast, as quoted by the Mirror. "And I've spoken to the manager many times and I knew what to expect.

"And you know to be part of the biggest club in the world and hopefully to be able to challenge for the trophies. That's a dream of mine. And now I'm really grateful to be part of the club and I'm going to give my everything every single to day to make sure that the club gets back to glory that it had in the past."