Antonio Conte wants former Chelsea striker to initiate squad rebuild -- report

Now that Antonio Conte has finally been announced as Chelsea's next permanent manager, it's time for the club to set its transfer targets for the next transfer window. According to the Independent, one of our key targets will be former Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku.

The newspaper claims that Conte sees Lukaku as an ideal player to help renew and rebuild the group, and lower the average age of the first-team. Lukaku would be brought to replace (or to compete) with Diego Costa, who has been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain, Atlético Madrid and even to the Chinese Super League.

But Lukaku's current club Everton won't be easy to convince, as shown by the John Stones debacle in the last summer transfer window. The Independent says that a £50 million offer would be enough to make Everton's job of holding onto Lukaku a rather difficult task. (ed. note: Yesterday's Times rumor ran even higher at £60 million.)

Convincing Lukaku to move back to Chelsea wouldn't be easy either. The Belgian striker left the club due to the lack of chances and playing time in the first-team and it's unlikely that he would come back to the Bridge unless he gets guaranteed time on the pitch - something not unusual in high-profile transfers, mind you.  He's also stated his ambition to play in the Champions League, which is not something that Chelsea can offer at the moment.  Neither can Everton, but others, like Manchester United, possibly could.

Either way, getting Lukaku back doesn't seem like the greatest idea. He's certainly improved since he left the club and one could say that his goal tally in the PL would only improve with a better squad around him when compared to Everton's. Nevertheless, Chelsea and Lukaku had an ugly break-up and, especially if Costa is still around next season, making amends at this point doesn't seem realistic.