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New Romelu Lukaku Everton deal would be no guarantee - Koeman

Everton manager Ronald Koeman has said Romelu Lukaku would not be guaranteed to stay at the club for the length of any new contract he may sign.

Lukaku's agent Mino Raiola said on Thursday that the deal was "99.9 percent done," and Koeman said he felt that was a significant development.

"I know they are in talks together about a new contract, but if it is 90 percent or 99 percent I need to believe his agent," he said.

"It is a big deal. The club need to keep their best players and do everything to keep them at the club because that is the future.

"Of course you don't know in football what can happen -- but at least there is an understanding that the boy likes to stay and is a big part of Everton's future.

"Even when they sign new contracts, they don't say they will stay until the end of the contract. It is football and business."

Koeman added that he wanted to bring in new faces in the January transfer window, citing Tottenham Hotspur as an example of a club that had moved forward by doing so.

"They made a step last season, but it is really difficult for them to be close to the top," he added.

"That seems to be more difficult for Everton. We know we need to battle for players and we have competition of [Manchester] United, [Manchester] City and Chelsea -- it is difficult.

"But I still believe we need to get good players to make the next step."

Everton will be without goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg and midfielder James McCarthy for the Boxing Day visit to Leicester.

Stekelenburg suffered a dead leg in Monday's Merseyside derby defeat and will be out in the short term, but McCarthy has suffered another hamstring injury and will be sidelined for at least a fortnight.

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