Chelsea and Manchester United have both offered about £75m for Everton striker Romelu Lukaku.
Senior United sources have revealed that they had made a bid for the 24-year-old Belgium international.
And it has now emerged Chelsea moved to re-sign Lukaku, who played for the Blues before moving to Everton for £28m in July 2014, earlier this week.
However, they are not willing to match the charge Lukaku’s agent Mino Raiola would earn if the forward joins United.
Lukaku was 18 when he signed for current Premier League champions Chelsea in August 2011 from Anderlecht for a fee reported to be around £20m.
“I dreamed of playing here since I was 10 years old. It was just what I was searching for,” he said at the time.
“I used to watch Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scoring goals and remember one against Manchester United, the volley at Old Trafford, and I decided I wanted to support this team.”
However, Lukaku made just one Premier League start at Chelsea and spent time on loan at West Bromwich Albion and Everton before sealing a permanent move to Goodison Park.
United, managed by former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho, has been chasing Lukaku for most of the summer.
The Old Trafford club is hopeful of concluding a deal in time for the player to join the squad before they depart for a pre-season tour to the United States on Sunday.
The striker was on a list of forward options Mourinho gave to executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward before the end of last season.
Raiola also looks after Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan – three players all signed by United last summer.
The Belgian turned down the most lucrative contract offer in Everton’s history in March and later said: “I don’t want to stay at the same level. I want to improve and I know where I want to do that.”