Chelsea to sign Lukaku before Premier League kick-off
Published:Chelsea are set to have even more firepower in their ranks for their Premier League title bid after agreeing a fee with Anderlecht for Romelu Lukaku.
Andre Villas-Boas has already seen one offer rejected for the 18-year-old Belgian striker, rumoured to be £18m.
However, a second approach has proved successful and Lukaku now only has to agree personal terms and pass a medical to seal his move to Stamford Bridge.
A lack of attacking talent has certainly not been noticeable in Chelsea’s pre-season campaign, as their latest 3-1 victory over Rangers ensured that they retained their 100 per cent winning record under Villas-Boas.
But with Didier Drogba potentially leaving for the African Nations Cup midway through the season and Fernando Torres still yet to truly uncover his scoring spark, further striking options could prove vital.
After the Rangers success, Villas-Boas said: “He’s an interesting young prospect. The situation is now that we have to position ourselves to maybe get this kind of talent.”
Anderlecht manager Herman van Holsbeeck added: “It’s a shame we have to let go of Romelu, who was scouted and trained by Anderlecht, but the transfer is a win-win situation for the player and the club.”
Chelsea’s odds remain 3/1 to win the Premier League and the addition of Lukaku to their ranks would add some rawness and an element of the unknown to their attack.
Meanwhile, the impressive pre-season displays of Daniel Sturridge could mean that he also has a big role to play, with the England under-21 forward scoring twice in the victory over Rangers.
Sturridge also has the capability of playing in the two wider positions of the forward-three, which is something that will not come as naturally to Torres, Drogba or Lukaku, who would all prefer to play through the middle.
Chelsea are 8/13 in the Premier League odds to win their opening game away at Stoke.
