Chelsea leading chase for £27m Romelu Lukaku but must sell two strikers before they can buy Anderlecht wonderkid

Romelu Lukaku (RSCA.be)

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By Wayne Veysey | Chief Correspondent

Chelsea are ready to swoop for Belgian teenager Romelu Lukaku next month but a move for the Anderlecht striker depends on the exit of two forwards from Stamford Bridge, Goal.com can reveal.

Lukaku has long been near the top of Chelsea’s summer shopping list, and the 17-year-old has continued his fine scoring form with 14 in the Belgian league so far this season, just one short of his tally for last year.

With Fernando Torres arriving for £50 million in January and Daniel Sturridge likely to return to Chelsea after impressing on loan at Bolton, Salomon Kalou appears to be on his way out of Stamford Bridge, with one of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka set to follow to pave the way for Lukaku’s arrival.

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Anderlecht are resigned to losing the striker, who turns 18 in May, but have quoted suitors a €30million (£26.8m) asking price.

The Europe-wide chase for Lukaku is being led by Premier League clubs, with Tottenham, Manchester City and Everton making their interest in the player clear as well as Chelsea. 

“I think that his dream is to go to the Premier League but we have to see what the possibilities are,” Anderlecht general manager Herman van Holsbeeck told Goal.com. “We have spoken to clubs who are interested in the player but I think one club from the Premier League really want the player. We are talking about big money, so we will see.”

It is understood that Belgium’s most successful club would accept an upfront fee of €20m (£17.7m) for Lukaku, plus another €5m (£4.4m) of performance-related add-ons.

“Our competition finishes in 14 days – then we will see the future of the player,” added van Holsbeeck. “The teams who are interested are mainly from the Premier League and in the weeks that are coming we will talk if a club wants to pay the money.”

Although Lukaku, whose style of play has been likened to that of his hero Drogba, is a boyhood Chelsea fan, he told Goal.com in January that he would love to play for any of the big clubs in the Premier League and said a switch to England in the summer is “more likely” than a move to Spain or Germany, his next most favoured destinations.