Chelsea confident of signing £75m-rated Everton striker Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea are confident that they can complete a deal for Romelu Lukaku in the summer, having offered Everton a fee in the range of £57m ($75m). The Blues let Lukaku leave in 2014 but are now willing to double the amount they received from Everton for the striker in a bid to alleviate their woes up front.

The Mirror reports that the Toffees are holding out for much higher with Everton unwilling to negotiate for anything less than £75m ($99m) in a window that has already seen some massive deals happen across Europe. The fee, should Chelsea match it, will be slightly less than Gonzalo Higuain's £78m ($103m) move to Juventus from Napoli. However, the report states that Chelsea have been told that Lukaku is willing to make the move to Stamford Bridge this summer.

Lukaku scored two goals for Belgium in the recently concluded European Championships in France but failed to lead his side to the semi-finals, having been beaten by Wales on their way to face Portugal. However, his tally of 18 goals and six assists is among the best in the league last season and Antonio Conte believes that with better supply he can more than better his return and lead the Blues to at least a top four spot, having finished the season in 10th position in the recently concluded campaign.

It would be another successful transfer for super-agent Mino Raiola, who has already completed the transfers of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan to Manchester United and is on the verge of assisting a world record deal for Paul Pogba to Old Trafford. This would be Chelsea's second striker signing of the summer, having already completed a deal for fellow Belgian Michy Batshuayi from Marseille.

The Blues have also secured a deal for Leicester City midfielder N'Golo Kante, who was a major part of the Foxes' title triumph last season. Kante got called up to the France squad for the Euros earlier in the summer and was a regular starter before suffering a suspension for an accumulation of cards over the tournament.