Yesterday’s surprise reveal that Manchester United had reached an agreement with Everton for Romelu Lukaku put Chelsea in a very tough spot. United poached the Blues top target, and the transfer details escalated quickly with reports of Lukaku undergoing a United medical in Los Angeles.
Chelsea had believed that they were in pole position to land the Belgian, and utilize him as Diego Costa’s replacement. While Costa’s return to Atletico Madrid is still not finalized yet, he is indeed moving closer to the exit door. The end result of these two deals means that Chelsea Manager Antonio Conte is now in a high pressure situation to act decisively and swiftly.
The defending league champs can’t go to war this season with only Loic Remy and Michy Batshuayi at forward, so Conte must get some serious summer shopping solidified this transfer window. Enter Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata who Chelsea bid for last summer. Morata has been heavily linked to United this summer, but negotiations stalled out, and Old Trafford moved on to Lukaku.
The Independent writes that Morata was left shocked by the Lukaku to United news, as he truly believed he was just days away from joining up with United on their USA summer preseason tour. Limited to being a bit player with Real Madrid, he’s looking for an escape route with first team football opportunities. He’s hoping that Chelsea will come calling for him.
The publication writes that: “Morata is now hoping that Chelsea will come back in for him and spend the money that they had intended to spend on Lukaku, before they were out-manoeuvred this week by United.”
Otherwise, the fallback option could be Andrea Belotti from Torino. He’s considered the other Chelsea contingency plan with Lukaku getting away. Via Yahoo/NBC Sports- “Torino is said to want the full release clause in Belotti’s contract, which is $113 million, and their president is adamant the 23-year-old will not leave for less than that.”
It’s going to be a very interesting time for Chelsea between now and transfer deadline day.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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