Toffees hoping to fend off Chelsea with high price
Everton are likely to demand £75million for Romelu Lukaku should Chelsea persist in their interest.
The Stamford Bridge club have been pushing to add Alvaro Morata to their squad but have been rebuffed in their approaches to sign the Spain forward so far.
Morata has always been the number one option for Antonio Conte but Lukaku is a striker he likes too. However, Everton are making plans to keep the Belgian and have offered a new contract and will look to price him out of Chelsea’s reach by increasing their previous £65m valuation.
Conte remains in competition with Everton for Napoli’s centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly, whose agent was in London last Friday, but has not given up totally on Kostas Manolas at Roma either.
Meanwhile, West Ham and AC Milan are expecting a decision from Carlos Bacca after the two clubs agreed a fee for the Colombia international.
By Ben Kelly @benkelly_10
