Everton are close to signing Belgian World Cup striker Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea for a club-record £23.7m.

Lukaku, 21, scored 16 goals on loan at Everton last
season as the club finished fifth and qualified for Europe for the first
time in five years.

Everton have called a news conference for 19:00 BST on Wednesday, at which they are expected to confirm the deal.

Lukaku, who joined Chelsea from Anderlecht for £18m in August 2011, tweeted: "Time to write a new chapter."

He spent the 2012-13 season on loan at West Brom and played only 15 times in all competitions for Chelsea.

Lukaku scored 17 goals in 38 games for the Baggies, as
the West Midlands club recorded their highest ever Premier League finish
of eighth.

Then last season, his performances for Everton earned
Lukaku a place in Marc Wilmots's Belgium squad for the 2014 World Cup.

He made four appearances in Brazil, scoring one goal,
as Belgium exited in the quarter-finals following a 1-0 loss to
Argentina.

However, the frontman does not fit into the plans of
Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, who has signed two strikers, and let two
go, this summer before Lukaku's move.

Diego Costa, 25, moved for £32m

from Atletico Madrid and

club legend Didier Drogba,

36, rejoined on a free transfer. Samuel Eto'o was released and Demba Ba was sold to Besiktas for £4.7m.

Lukaku's departure means striker Fernando Torres, 30, is likely to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea believe the fee agreed with Everton for Lukaku
puts them in a strong position to comply with Uefa's Financial Fair Play
rules.

Chelsea have put a £30m price tag on Romelu Lukaku’s head, enough to put Everton off making a permanent move for him. Daily Mirror

he already signed a 5year contract with everton!

Yup, It's official, Lukaku signs for Everton !

http://www.evertonfc.com/live

Good riddance.

@V I'm surprised, I thought you liked him.

I did, I really did. That is until I noticed how he can't handle competition and constantly b*tches about us. No need for someone like that. Anyway, I'm glad we got more than 25m pounds on him.

Record signing. But he's worth it.

@V Ok, I didn't know that.

28M pounds for a striker who never score for chelsea. Again good business by jose

The 21-year-old striker, who spent last season on loan at Goodison
Park, rejoins the Blues for a Club record transfer fee of
£28million on a five-year contract.

Good deal for both Clubs, both coaches and even for the player.
Very promising player, but Chelsea wont give him time to progress, and he wont like being benched so the departure is the best thing for everybody.

Very Good for us and good for him . I am happy with a price tag . We have made a profit this year . What a business Chelsea has done this year . We spent 93 million and sold 96 bringing top quality players and made a profit . Just brilliant .

This newspaper hype about young players sometimes create arrogance and raise of self importance . No player is bigger than a club . And youngsters this days should realize that getting a contract at the big club is just a beginning of building successful career . Lukaku decided to make a step back in his career and let his mouth do the work rather than his performance on the pitch . We can't allow ourselves to bend after the comments he made about Chelsea . No matter what talent he has .

Nonetheless , I wish him good .

Good for him! Finally back in a club that will appreciate him. Wasted his time with Chelsea. I really hope Costa is a huge flop. That will be the best Justice. Chelsea keeps doing this bullshit with young players. Signing them then benching them or loaning them out. The fact that Ba and Torres was ahead of him. The fact he had to watch the squad win the CL when he had no part. Getting loaned out twice when he was meant to be the most promising young striker in the World. Watch him tear up the PL next season. Watch Chelsea finish 3rd or 4th. They will certainly have deserved it.
Now Lukaku can play against CFC. I'm sure he will vent alot of frustration on them. :)
Really great Everton broke their record signing, it shows they want to compete! They have signed a very good striker.
Respect.

Mourinho

@Wolfie

So far, Costa seems to be doing pretty well. I guess Torres was a one-off mistake. :p

^ Im sure they included an option in case they want to buy Lukaku in the future, they could buy him back for lets say 60M when he will reach his peak ( if he reaches his peak ).
No i dont think they will have to worry much, they could sign any player they need in the next years...

Wait for Torres to be offloaded as well...I don't think Mou likes him too much. Your thoughts CFC fans?

No thank you . Matic never talked sht about Chelsea . Meanwhile Lukaku was talking sht to press , facebook , tweeter to his teammates at Belgium and maybe even to his mama . smh

"Wasted his time with Chelsea."

We loaned you Wallace , he played only 3 matches . High potential Player that Inter claimed they were really in need .

@tiki

We do not need clause . I honestly do not care how good he becomes. There will always be someone who will be better . One player I am still bitter about is Daniel Sturridge because he kept his mouth shut , worked hard and showed it on the field , but only for dumb Benitez and Di Matteo to toss him out of the club and bring aging Ba instead.

Torres was a damaged good . I never liked the fact that we bought him , but I learned to live with it . As longest he shows good work ethic and gives it all on the pitch , I can bite my tongue for another season . He is a good striker ( well misfires often but he has moments of brilliance ) and we need another striker who has winning mentality. So 3 strikers will be good for us .

Everton tweeted: CONFIRMED: @RomeluLukaku9 becomes our Club-record signing, arriving from Chelsea on a 5-year deal for a fee of £28million. #WelcomeHomeRom.

Just what I told Lodatz we will sell him for at least £25-30 million.

I'm jealous. :/

Also: Everton overpaid. ;)