Chelsea Transfer News: Latest on Romelu Lukaku and Kostas Manolas Rumours

Chelsea have reportedly been put off in their pursuit of Everton striker Romelu Lukaku due to his £65 million valuation.

According to Kieran Gill of the MailOnline, the Blues, Crystal Palace and West Ham United have all asked about the availability of the Belgium striker. But “the £65 million valuation was also considered too much by Chelsea, who sold Lukaku to Everton for £28 million, as their lack of a buy-back clause in his contract came back to bite them,” added Gill.

As noted in the piece, Lukaku has spoken candidly about his future, insisting he is keen to move to a club that will challenge for titles. However, Gill suggests that new Everton manager Ronald Koeman wants to keep the 23-year-old on Merseyside.

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Despite Everton’s struggles in 2015-16, Lukaku enjoyed the best season of his career, netting 18 Premier League goals. As these numbers from Squawka Football showed ahead of the summer’s UEFA European Championship, the Belgium man knows where the back of the net is:

A poor showing at the summer tournament coupled with a sloppy end to the Premier League season seems to have put a dampen on the striker’s reputation. At times, Lukaku can look clumsy at the point of the attack, with his first touch haphazard and his work rate lacking. But he’s a footballer who has always played in bursts.

When he does come alive, he’s a huge threat. Lukaku is powerful, agile and can take defenders on with the ball at his feet. It’s rare for a centre-forward to mesh those qualities so well and still be a genuine goalscoring threat. It’s likely why Everton value him so highly.

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Indeed, Ell Bretland of the Daily Mail believes that the striker, despite his ambitions, still has plenty to learn at Goodison Park:

Chelsea need to add reinforcements to their striker department to complement Diego Costa and Michy Batshuayi. Lukaku is still young, still learning and still scoring goals, so any potential offer could be viewed as a long-term investment.

Still, for a player the Blues sold for less than half of the Toffees’ valuation a couple of years ago, it’s a lot to shell out to bring him back. For now, it looks likely Lukaku will be donning Everton blue rather than Chelsea blue next term.

Kostas Manolas Update

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The agent for Roma defender Kostas Manolas has stated his client will not sign a new contract at the club, with Chelsea linked to the Greece international.

“I can confirm there is no agreement over the player’s contract extension. I don’t think it is possible to have agreement in the next few weeks,” Ioannis Evangelopoulos said to Laroma24 (h/t Lorenzo Bettoni of Calciomercato), with Manolas’ contract at the club set to expire in 2019.

According to Bettoni, the Blues and Arsenal are both interested in signing the 25-year-old, who has blossomed into one of the best defenders in the Italian top flight.

As we can see here courtesy of WhoScored.com, he’s a dominant presence at the back, especially in the air:

New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte may feel as though his squad is a little light in terms of defenders, with Gary Cahill, Kurt Zouma and John Terry the only proven senior options in the position. If there is uncertainty about Manolas’ future, the Blues would do well to press on with their interest, as he’s a player who is tailor made for English football.

Not only is Manolas aggressive and physical in his defending, he’s a cerebral figure, too. The Greek reads the game exceptionally and is an expert in timing tackles. Potentially, he’d be an ideal long-term partner for Zouma and a defender who would learn plenty working alongside Terry on a day-to-day basis with the Blues.