Lukaku, 23, scored four goals against Bournemouth last weekend to take his Premier League tally for Everton up to 59, only one behind Duncan Ferguson's club record.

The Everton boss, who is hopeful Lukaku will prolong his contract at Goodison Park, said the Belgium international could be compared to three-time Ballon d'Or winner Van Basten, who played alongside Koeman for Ajax and Netherlands.

Asked if Lukaku's finishing matched Van Basten's, Koeman replied: "Yes. He's one of the best, even comparing him to the players in my time.

"He is world-class in his finishing. He is that good but he needs to improve in a total picture of a player -- but that part of him is world-class.

"We know if we give him the chances, normally he will score the goals."

Ferguson, meanwhile, has said he is happy to see the Belgium international close in on his record.

The 45-year-old now works as Everton's first-team development coach and he told The Times: "Someone said to me that Rom was getting closer to my record of goals and I didn't even know what it was. No one tells you about the record until someone is about to beat it.

"The quicker he does it the better. Rom is a goal machine and hopefully he scores a couple of hundred for us in the next 10 years. We are working with him every day, but we are just there to facilitate him, massage him.

"He is top drawer. He can finish off his right and his left. He maybe needs to improve his heading, but he is one of the best I have seen."

Dixie Dean, who played for Everton from 1925 to 1937, is the club's all-time leading scorer with 383 goals in all competitions, with 349 coming in the league.