Back in December, Chelsea’s on-loan striker Romelu Lukaku claimed he wants to “return to Chelsea as one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”
He may not get the chance.
A Daily Mail report suggest that the towering Belgian has burned bridges at Stamford Bridge, and Jose Mourinho will look to sell in the summer.
With a second consecutive impressive season from the 20-year-old on loan - first at West Bromwich Albion and now at Everton - Lukaku will no doubt have plenty of suitors.
But apparently Mourinho doesn’t rate Lukaku highly enough to keep the player in spite of his highly outspoken nature against his parent club.
Lukaku will head into next season with just two years left on the five-year deal he signed as a teenager.
With little production from the striker position this season, Mourinho will be in dire need of a target man up front this summer, but he could use the money from a sale of Lukaku to finance a potential deal for others. The Mail report names Diego Costa and Radamel Falcao as top names.
Chelsea have benefitted from just 14 goals between Samuel Eto’o, Fernando Torres, and Demba Ba combined. Of that bunch, only Eto’o with seven goals is in the top 5 Chelsea goalscorers.
Everton would surely be in the mix to purchase Lukaku outright, with the youngster clearly enjoying his time on loan at Goodison Park, although ultimately they may be priced out of the move depending on Chelsea’s asking price.
Lukaku has 15 first-team appearances for Chelsea in his career, yet to score a goal for the Blues.