Roberto Martínez has claimed Romelu Lukaku’s value to Everton cannot be measured by his £28 million fee and denied the price is excessive compared with the £32 million Chelsea spent on Diego Costa.
Everton will face Chelsea on Saturday.
The Everton manager said: “They are different ages [Lukaku 21, Costa 25] and the situation at Atlético Madrid is very different in how they work. Sometimes as a club you have a say and sometimes you have investment groups who have a say. That could be one reason.
“Second, it’s not about the value. I would have paid £100 million for Lukaku if I had the money. The figure is insignificant. It is about the character and type of player you want in the group. Sometimes a player at £3 million can be an expensive buy and sometimes a player at £28 million can be a very cheap buy.”