Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku will leave Stamford Bridge for Everton after agreeing to sign a five-year deal worth £75,000-a-week with the Merseyside outfit. The 21-year-old Belgium international will cost the Toffees a club-record £25 million fee.
Reports that Chelsea had agreed to sell Lukaku were broken by Belgian website DH on Wednesday afternoon, and soon followed up by stories from the Daily Mail and other British publications.
Lukaku leaves Stamford Bridge having made just 10 Premier League appearances for the west London outfit since arriving at the club from Anderlecht back in August 2011.
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Back to Everton
Lukaku enjoyed a superb spell on loan at Goodison Park last season, scoring 15 goals in 31 Premier League appearances for the Toffees.
The powerful striker, during the previous season, netted a hugely-impressive 17 goals in 35 Premier League appearances during an earlier loan spell with West Bromwich Albion.
But, despite his eye-catching performances, Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was reluctant to give him a chance in the Blues’ first team at the beginning of the 2013/14 campaign and promptly sent him on loan to Everton for the season.
Relationship with Mourinho
Lukaku’s relationship with Mourinho appeared to deteriorate throughout last season. Both had different opinions about why the Belgian was playing his football at Goodison Park rather than Stamford Bridge last term. Mourinho, back in November, even urged Lukaku to come clean about why he initially chose to leave Chelsea for Everton.
It appears that the breakdown in the relationship between Mourinho and Lukaku may have been a key factor in the latter’s decision to seek a permanent exit away from Stamford Bridge.
Relationship with Martinez
So, why Everton? Lukaku, after all, certainly had no shortage of suitors. Indeed, the likes of Real Madrid, Arsenal and Tottenham have all been linked with the striker in recent months.
But Lukaku knows that, in Roberto Martinez, Everton have a manager who knows, trusts and believes in him.
The Spanish coach, who pulled off another masterstroke earlier this week by convincing midfielder Ross Barkley to sign a new long-term deal, feels Lukaku is the perfect striker to fire Everton towards that elusive top-four finish - and has convinced chairman Bill Kenwright to pay the massive fee to secure the player’s services.
Watch: Lukaku's loan season at Everton
Lukaku: “New chapter”
Speculation over Lukaku’s future intensified earlier today when Lukaku posted a picture on his official Twitter account, alongside the message: “Time to write a new chapter”.
Lukaku’s sale leaves Chelsea with Diego Costa, Fernando Torres and Didier Drogba as their three main strikers heading into the 2014/15 campaign.
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