Chelsea prepare £65m plus Loic Remy swap deal to sign Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea are preparing a British record £65m ($86m) bid to sign Romelu Lukaku from Everton this summer and are willing to offer Loic Remy as part of the deal to sweeten the transfer. The Blues are willing to bring the Belgian back to Stamford Bridge after being thwarted in their approach for Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata.

The Mirror reports that Everton have put a £75m ($100m) valuation on the striker and have already rejected an initial bid from the Blues. The Belgian scored 18 goals and assisted six in his last season with the Toffees and was among the top five players in the league in terms of goals scored. He also had an impressive European Championship with the national team, scoring two goals before being eliminated by Wales in the quarter-finals.

Chelsea have been further boosted in their pursuit, with the Evening Standard reporting that Lukaku is keen to join the Blues and is ready to hand in an official transfer request to complete the transfer. The striker signed from Chelsea on a permanent basis in 2014, having spent a year on loan at Goodison Park prior to that.

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's move 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 was 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.