This must be the offseason where clubs are made to buy back their most expensive transfer mistakes. First we have Manchester Unite poised to pay £100m to bring Paul Pogba back to Old Trafford, while Chelsea are reported to have offered Everton £72m for former striker Romelu Lukaku.
According to Matteo Pedrosi, an Italian journalist for both Calcio Mercato and Sport Italia, that would be the base amount and more would be added through further bonus payments, bringing the potential value of the deal to over £80m.
That would certainly be more than Gonzalo Higuain’s £75.3m move from Napoli to Juventus last month and put Lukaku close to Cristiano Ronaldo’s £83.7m move from Manchester United to Real Madrid in 2009. Meaning that the Belgium striker would be one of the three most expensive players ever, and the deal would smash the transfer record between British clubs.
There are reports that Lukaku is “weighing up the possibility of handing in an official transfer request to force the switch through” as Everton and Chelsea are not on the best of terms after the John Stones saga last summer, when the Blues made three bids for the defender but failed to agree a deal.
It was only two years ago that then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho decided that the Belgium striker was not ready for the big stage at Stamford Bridge and sold him to Everton for £28m after sending the striker on loan for the previous two seasons.
Lukaku has scored 45 goals since the permanent deal was struck and last season he became the first Everton player since Gary Lineker 30 years ago to score 20 league goals.
It looks like new Chelsea boss Antonio Conte wants to play with two up-front this season, and if the Blues land Lukaku, the question is will he partner Diego Costa or new signing Michy Batshuayi.
What do you think Chelsea fans. Is Romelu Lukaku worth £72m?