Jose Mourinho claims Manchester United saved themselves £60m buying Romelu Lukaku when they did

The former Everton striker swapped Goodison Park for Old Trafford earlier this summer in a deal that could make him the most expensive player in the club's history

Romelu Lukaku has hit the ground running at Manchester United (Getty)

Jose Mourinho has claimed that Manchester United actually managed to bag themselves a bargain when they spent £90m on Romelu Lukaku.

The former Everton striker swapped Goodison Park for Old Trafford earlier this summer in a deal that could make him the most expensive player in the club's history.

But Mourinho believes that had they waited until after Neymar's world record breaking switch to Paris Saint-Germain they would have been forced to pay nearer double that fee, such was the effect the Brazilian's transfer had on the overall market.

"I think we were very clever," he told The Times. "We thought that something could happen that could change the market forever. After Neymar everything changed — and for the worse in terms of prices.

"I think Lukaku on August 31 would have been £150 million. Matic would have been £60m or £70m. Neymar changed everything.

"If the biggest transfer in history had still been (Paul) Pogba, I think Philippe Coutinho would now be in Barcelona at £101million.

"Lukaku and Matic, now, would have cost us £200 million in total. But because we did it in the first part of the summer, it was much less."

Lukaku has hit the ground running at United scoring three times in three Premier League games since joining from Everton in July.