Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino has slammed Everton over their sale of Romelu Lukaku to Manchester United.

Cascarino believes Everton made a mistake in how they conducted their transfer business this summer, claiming Lukaku might even be worth more than Alexis Sanchez or Philippe Coutinho.

Arsenal and Liverpool held firm despite interest for their respective stars, and The Times columnist thinks Everton could have done likewise.

“Never mind all the signings that they made this summer, the most significant bit of business that Everton did was selling Romelu Lukaku," Cascarino said. “What a terrible decision that was. The recent transfer window proved that you don't have to sell your best players, even if they want out.

“Arsenal kept Alexis Sánchez, Liverpool turned down more than £100 million for Philippe Coutinho and Southampton held on to Virgil van Dijk despite the player threatening to go on strike. Those teams deemed their stars to be irreplaceable so they kept hold of them. Lukaku was Everton's star and he had left by early July.

“I would argue, given his talent, potential and importance to Everton, that Lukaku is worth more than either Sánchez or Coutinho and yet not only did they sell him, it now seems that Everton didn't even get the market rate for the Belgium striker."