Tottenham make ‘contact’ over Chelsea flop with £100m transfer mooted

Tottenham have made initial contact over a potential deal for Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku this summer, according to reports.

The Blues are ready to let the Belgium international leave the club this summer with a move back to Serie A thought to be the most likely outcome earlier in the transfer window.

Inter Milan, who took Lukaku on loan last season, pulled out of the race to sign him earlier in the window after they became annoyed at his talks with rivals Juventus.

However, a report ten days ago claimed that Chelsea had ‘no intention’ of accepting Juventus’ ‘proposal’ of sending Lukaku to Italy in a player-plus-cash deal for Dusan Vlahovic.

And speculation emerged this week that Tottenham are willing to spend £34m on Lukaku as they look to replace Harry Kane, who joined Bayern Munich for £86m earlier this month.

Italian website Calciomercato have brought an update on Tottenham’s interest in Lukaku with ‘the latest idea’ of Spurs to bring in the Belgian international.

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They add that ‘initial preliminary contacts have already taken place’ over a potential transfer but it has not yet ‘led to anything concrete’.

Lukaku expects a salary of €10.8m net per year with claims Tottenham will have to pay €45m (£38.5m) to land the 30-year-old before the end of the transfer window.

If he still remains a Chelsea player after the transfer window shuts then his only option would be Saudi Arabia with the country ‘ready to cover both the player and the London club in gold’.

Former Tottenham defender Alan Hutton is predicting that Spurs will attempt to replace Kane before the transfer deadline on September 1 but reckons a top striker would set them back over £100m.

“I still believe somebody has to come in,” Hutton told Football Insider.

“I mean, we’re talking about Harry Kane, who scores 20 plus goals every single season. Where would they have ended up if he didn’t have his goals last season?

“So he’s out the building and now it is a start of a new process, moving forward the Richarlison is in the hot seat and can he get those numbers, there’s still a question mark for me. Get someone new in the building, it has to happen and I think it will happen.

“I think, really, if they want to be fighting for those top places and any sort of European football, I think they need to bring somebody in.

“But with that being said, I think it’s probably one of the hardest positions to fill nowadays.

“We’re talking about over 100 million for a defensive midfielder, so what’s it going to cost for one of the top strikers out there?

“But, I think they have to bring in somebody.”