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Everton rejects Chelsea’s £57m bid for Lukaku

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea have had a £57million bid for Romelu Lukaku rejected by Everton – but are confident of agreeing a deal to re-sign him this summer.

The two clubs are haggling over a fee, with the Toffees holding out for a club-record £75million.

But they have finally accepted the 23-year-old striker is determined to rejoin the club they bought him off two years ago.

Chelsea ’s bid for Lukaku is more than double the £28m they received for him when he moved to Goodison Park in the summer of 2014.

Boss Antonio Conte has already landed one Belgium international striker, £33m Michy Batshuayi from Marseille, this summer and remains confident of keeping Spain frontman Diego Costa , despite sustained interest from his former club Atletico Madrid.

The fee Everton are demanding would be just short of the £78m deal which saw Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain – 29 in December – move from Napoli to fellow Serie A side Juventus this week.

It would be another monster payday for super-agent Mino Raiola, who is set to receive a £20m payment once the £100m transfer of Paul Pogba from Juve to Manchester United is confirmed.

Raiola has also profited from high-profile moves to Old Trafford for two of his other clients this off-season, superstar striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic and midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Lukaku was one of the most prolific goal-scorers in English football’s top flight last season, netting 25 times in all club competitions.

He has been desperate for some time, however, to return to Chelsea.

Mirror Sport understands at least one other Premier League side keen on signing him this summer has already been told that he has his heart set on the club he first joined from Anderlecht in his homeland for £11m in August 2011.

Lukaku feels he has “unfinished business” at Chelsea who, despite a nightmare campaign last season as defending champions, still finished one place above Everton.

He was on the Londoners’ books for three seasons but spent the 2012-13 and 2013-14 campaigns out on loan at first West Brom and then Everton. He only started once in the Premier League for the Stamford Bridge side, and never scored for them in 15 senior appearances.

New Toffees manager Ronald Koeman, backed by the millions of majority shareholder Farhad Moshiri, had been confident of persuading the marksman to stay on and spearhead a push for European football.

Instead, the Dutchman is now searching for alternatives with agreement on a fee all that stands between Lukaku and a return to the English capital.

Daily Mirror

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