Chelsea are reportedly confident that they will be able to prise Romelu Lukaku away from Everton this summer after the striker rejected a new contract.
The 23-year-old left Stamford Bridge in 2014, and has gone on to gradually make steady progress with this campaign the most prolific of his career to date.
With 19 goals in 27 Premier League games, the Belgian international has the best tally of his career thus far, but it appears as though all is not well at Goodison Park.
According to The Mirror, Lukaku is unwilling to sign a new offer worth £140,000-a-week over five years, as he doesn’t want a release clause of more than £70m included in the contract.
That would likely be out of reach for the likes of Chelsea to sign him, which in turn is why he is believed to be pushing for a lesser fee in the clause which will be a concern in itself that he doesn’t see his long-term future with the Toffees.
The Mirror adds that Chelsea lodged a £57m bid for him last summer but failed to land his signature, with Everton rejecting the offer as they were looking for something closer to £75m.
With two years remaining on his contract as of this summer, Lukaku will be a stronger position the closer to the end of the deal he gets and if there is still a impasse in talks over a new deal it will only lead to further speculation linking Chelsea with a move with Everton forced to consider a sale.
Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Juventus and Manchester United are all named as interested parties in the report, but perhaps there’s a sense of unfinished business for Lukaku at Chelsea given that he was sold without ever really getting a sustained run of games at Stamford Bridge.