CHELSEA have tabled a British record take-it-or-leave-it £65million bid for Romelu Lukaku.
The West Londoners have told Everton they want an answer by the weekend – but are prepared to throw striker Loic Remy in as a possible makeweight to get the deal over the line.
Everton are holding out for £75m for a player they only signed from Chelsea for £28m two years ago.
But, if they accept this bid, the Toffees will have made a whooping £37m profit.
But the Blues are adamant they are not going to be held to ransom and are prepared to miss out on signing the striker like they were last summer after the clubs could not agree a fee for defender John Stones.
A source told SunSport: “The club have made a very generous offer – it breaks the British and club record – and is more than double what Everton paid for Romelu.
“Last summer the John Stones negotiations became a bit of a saga and Chelsea want to avoid that so pretty much have told Everton they want to get this all wrapped up by the weekend.”
Chelsea play AC Milan in the early hours of tomorrow morning before heading to Germany to face Werder Bremen for their last pre-season game on Sunday.
Boss Antonio Conte would like to see Lukaku at Cobham on Monday or Tuesday as the team prepare for their Premier League opener against West Ham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday August 14.
Lukaku – who wants to return to Chelsea – has fired 45 goals in his two years since making his loan move permanent.
Diego Costa is set to return to the team after recovering from a back injury.
Conte said: “Yes. Diego is working with the other players and can play.
“I will decide if I put him in the starting XI or to keep him on the bench.”
The Chelsea boss was not happy with his team’s performance as they lost 3-2 to Real Madrid on Saturday – having beaten Liverpool 1-0 two days earlier.
He said: “It’s important to see improvement. Between the first game against Liverpool and the second against Real Madrid I saw different things, different improvement.
“Against Liverpool I think our defensive phase was very good because the team was very compact. But with the ball, when we were in possession, it was so-so.
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“Against Real Madrid we improved a lot with the ball, with possession, with playing the ball. But without the ball, we were bad.
“I think it was also because of a bit of tiredness in the players. This tour has been beautiful but has also been very intense.
“I want to work during the training sessions, not just enjoy and wait to play the games. In this period it is very important to work very hard, to have two training sessions and to improve different aspects, tactical and physical and look at the video analysis.
“A friendly game is important but is not the be all and end all.”
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