Romelu Lukaku is keen to return to Chelsea in potential £100m deal... but does he have what it takes to lead the Premier League champions' line?
- Romelu Lukaku looks set to favour a return to Chelsea in potential £100m deal
- The Belgian striker left Stamford Bridge back in 2014 in £28m Everton transfer
- He enjoyed a succession of impressive goalscoring seasons at Goodison Park
- And now Premier League champions are willing to break bank to re-sign him
The starting gun has been fired on what could well be the defining transfer saga of the summer.
Romelu Lukaku confirmed what everyone suspected by saying this week that 'staying at Everton is no longer an option for next season.'
Tantalisingly, the big Belgian revealed that 'we are now in talks with the club and I am looking forward.'
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku will leave Everton this season and could return to Chelsea
Everton have placed a world record price tag of £100m on the Belgian striker
The general consensus is that Lukaku has instructed his agent Mino Raiola to negotiate a return to Chelsea, the club he left for Everton back in 2014.
That deal was worth £28million. In order to get him back, Chelsea may well have to pay a world record transfer fee and Lukaku could become the world's first £100million player.
As they proved with David Luiz and Nemanja Matic, Chelsea have no problem with paying inflated fees to get back what was once their property.
Lukaku only really had one full season with Chelsea during his first spell, making 12 appearances and failing to score at all. In eight of those, he came off the bench.
As has become Chelsea's custom, the young striker was sent out on loan for that crucial experience and enjoyed incredibly successful spells at West Bromwich Albion and then Everton.
Lukaku made just 12 competitive appearances for Chelsea during his first spell with the club
Lukaku would expect to be Chelsea's first-choice striker if he returned to Stamford Bridge
In 2013, during his time with the Baggies, Lukaku asserted his confidence that he would make it at Chelsea. 'My aim is to play at the Bridge and to be a legend over there in the future,' he said.
But Jose Mourinho had other ideas and sanctioned that permanent move to Goodison Park in 2014, after the pair's words about one another had made headlines throughout the season of his loan.
'It is one thing to play for Everton and another thing to play for Chelsea,' said Mourinho afterwards. 'There are no regrets.'
Slightly ironic, then, that Mourinho's Manchester United are the other team linked with signing Lukaku this summer. But more on that later.
Lukaku is leaning towards a return to Chelsea, where an awful lot of water has flowed under the bridge since 2014 and there is unquestionably a feeling of unfinished business.
Only given the chance to play in 15 matches for Chelsea first time around when he was a young striker desperate to make an impact, Lukaku has since matured and blossomed into a deadly goalscorer.
Lukaku could link up with Michy Batshuayi for both club and country Belgium next season
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte is keen to bring in a reliable goalscorer this summer
Goal returns of 20, 25 and 26 in the past three seasons with Everton attest to that - it is an excellent return and would make him Chelsea's first-choice striker ahead of Diego Costa (if he stays) and Michy Batshuayi.
Mourinho claimed three years ago that one issue was Lukaku's desire to be the undisputed first-choice forward, but even if these comments were true it was simply too soon for a player barely in his twenties and unproven.
While Chelsea would welcome his reliable scoring returns, there are plenty of Blues fans who question whether he is the all-round forward they need and expect.
Lukaku's speed, acceleration, physicality, finishing and aerial presence aren't in doubt, but doubts have been raised about his hold-up and link-up play and the effort he is willing to put in for the team.
Costa, for example, has world class control and link-up skills that keep the forward line moving and bring others into the attack. Lukaku needs to work on his.
Lukaku has instructed his agent Mino Raiola to negotiate a return to Chelsea this summer
Lukaku would play in the Champions League group stage for the first time at Chelsea
Everton manager Ronald Koeman also sometimes criticised Lukaku's pressing - or lack of it - when the team was out of possession.
Chelsea fans might also worry that Lukaku was the shining star in a side that finished seventh in the Premier League last season, potentially inflating his worth, but could he cut it at the champions?
Few teams set up with 10 men behind the ball against Everton, while almost everyone does against Chelsea. Lukaku would get superior service, but would he be able to find the space or have time on the ball?
There's then the issue of that eye-watering fee, with Everton demanding £100m for the striker, some £11m more than United paid for Paul Pogba last summer.
Though likely to be negotiated down and well within Chelsea's reach, it is astonishingly high for someone who has never played in the Champions League proper, only its qualifying rounds as a teenager for Anderlecht.
To be thrust straight into the responsibility of being first-choice striker for the defending Premier League champions while also in the Champions League and with the pressure of a world record transfer fee on him is quite the ask.
Lukaku says his relationship with Mourinho is fine after the manager sold him when at Chelsea
Lukaku is currently on international duty with Belgium, seen here playing the Czech Republic
Would it be any easier at United? Lukaku has said 'the page is turned on both sides' with regards to his relationship with Mourinho, so it remains a possibility.
He's also on the record as saying he feels he needs to play in the Champions League, and that's where the Old Trafford club will also be next season.
There's also the fact agent Raiola has close ties with United, having negotiated moves for three of his clients - Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan - there last summer. The door would certainly be open.
But all roads appear to lead back to London. Perhaps Lukaku will be a Chelsea 'legend' after all, but there are plenty who still need to be convinced.
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