It seems Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku are inseparable. As per latest reports, the Belgian striker hasn’t ruled out any move back to the Stamford Bridge and with Antonio Conte desperately looking for a forward, a move is very much on at the moment.
In an interview, Lukaku stated, “I’m just focused on the season. I’m not really thinking anything about it [Chelsea],’ said Lukaku. I’m focused on this team. Whatever you guys write, you guys write. For me, I’m not thinking about it.”
Lukaku’s position at Goodison Park has never been very concrete. Everton boss Ronald Koeman has himself stated a few months back that Lukaku deserved a bigger and better club than Everton and rumours linking him away from the Toffees have always flooded the rumour mills.
The Belgian was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge last summer and he even initially intimated that he wanted to leave Goodison Park, but he finally decided against it after Koeman convinced him about staying at Everton.
However, Chelsea are willing to give the extra push now with a lack of any good striker in the side apart from Diego Costa. Chelsea have been linked with high-profile as well as temporary targets like Antoine Greizmann and Swansea City’s Fernando Llorente. Their last summer recruit Michy Batshuayi has failed to impress the manager so far and Conte is looking to offer him some game time elsewhere on a loan move.
Their main striker, Costa, has been brilliant so far showing great instinct of an ideal poacher in front of the goal and with Pedro, Hazard and Fabregas all behind to supply the ball up front, Conte is looking at a similar forward who excels at receiving the ball at the edge of the box and score. Lukaku sure seems like an ideal option for this. And reports suggest that the Blues would have to part with around £70m for the Belgium international.
The Belgian has scored 13 goals in 22 appearances for Everton this season with occasional goal droughts. He has also registered four assists with a shot accuracy of 67%.
An RSC Anderlecht academy product, Lukaku moved to Chelsea in 2011 and immediately loaned to West Bromwich Albion for experience, which was followed by a brief loan stint at Everton in 2013, before finally making a permanent move in 2014. Lukaku has scored 74 goals for the Toffees establishing himself as one of their main players.
With his ability to hold the ball up front using his big frame and having some brilliant finishing prowess, Conte’s search for someone to share the burden with Costa up front might finally end.
