Chelsea Transfer News: Romelu Lukaku Considered Amid Alvaro Morata Rumours

Chelsea could resume their interest in Everton striker Romelu Lukaku if they fail to prise Alvaro Morata away from Real Madrid.

According to Mike Keegan and Simon Jones of MailOnline, the Blues have had two large bids for the Spaniard rejected—one worth £50 million and the other £62.7 million—and while they could yet try a third time, Lukaku "is seen as a viable back-up."

Per Keegan and Jones, Chelsea head coach Antonio Conte said:

"

About this situation—I prefer to leave [it] with the club. We know our targets and the most important thing is that between me and the club there is a great synergy on the transfer market.

We know our targets and for me this is the most important thing. It is not important to speak outside but to keep the secret in this moment I think it is very important.

"

The Blues have already recruited Michy Batshuayi this summer, but according to Simon Johnson of the Evening Standard, they're still hoping to sign another forward to compete for a place with the Belgian and Diego Costa:

Per Gianluca Di Marzio of Sky Italia (h/t journalist Kristof Terreur), Chelsea are also trying their luck with a bid for Lukaku:

Morata accrued 12 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for Juventus last season despite frequently starting on the bench—18 of his 34 Serie A appearances last season were as a substitute—while Lukaku racked up 25 and seven respectively as the Toffees' primary goal threat.

The former possesses great pace and uses his impressive dribbling ability to stretch defences, and he can score or create chances in equal measure.

He also has a penchant for notching important goals, netting five in the 2014-15 UEFA Champions League knockout stages, including one in the final, and he scored the winner in this year's Coppa Italia final.

The latter is a classic centre-forward who uses his power and physicality as much as pace and technique to terrorise defenders. He's a prolific goalscorer, though he still has a tendency to put in frustrating or anonymous shifts, and his passing can often let him down.

Here's a look at the pair's league stats, per Squawka:

	Morata	Lukaku
Apps	34	37
Mins	1,484	3,170
Goals	7	18
Assists	7	6
Chances Created per 90 mins	1.70	1.45
Take-Ons per 90 mins	1.88	1.16
Aerial Duels per 90 mins	0.97	2.64
Shot Accuracy	58%	56%
Pass Completion	79%	73%

Both strikers are only 23 and have room to improve; Morata's goal output could certainly be higher considering how much he might cost, while Lukaku could do with more consistency and needs to work on his distribution.

Of the two, Morata seems the more likely to improve in the near future—simply giving him more game time than he had at Juventus should go some way toward raising his goal tally—but either player would be a strong acquisition.