Chelsea to test waters with new bid for Kalidou Koulibaly; Romelu Lukaku still on the radar — report

Chelsea haven't given up the pursuit of Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly, and are now set to approach the Italian club with a renewed bid for the player. According to the Telegraph, this new attempt could be as high as £60 million — approximately £16.7 million more than the last reported bid from Chelsea for Koulibaly.

While the centre back pairing of Gary Cahill and John Terry did well enough to keep West Ham's Andy Carroll in check on Monday, their usefulness against strikers that aren't as limited as the English target man is up for debate, especially given their form against the likes of Sergio Aguero and Romelu Lukaku last season.

And speaking of the latter, the Telegraph also claims that Chelsea remain interested in our former striker, although Everton remain reluctant in selling him. Having just let John Stones go to Manchester City in a £47.5 million move, the Toffees don’t want to lose another young star.

Paying £60 million for either Koulibaly or Lukaku would shatter the Chelsea record £50 million fee paid to Liverpool to land Fernando Torres in the 2011 winter transfer window. Then again, in a market where a world-class midfielder costs almost £120 million, paying half that amount to secure a perennial starter for the squad might be the new normal.