Emenalo to remain at Chelsea, push for Lukaku reunion

Michael Emenalo is far from the most popular figure with the Chelsea fanbase at the moment, but it looks as if he might actually survive the worst season since Roman Abramovich took over. The London Evening Standard is reporting that Emenalo will remain with the club when new manager Antonio Conte takes over this summer, and will support his push to bring back a player that he never wanted to let go in the first place.

Conte is reportedly interested in bringing back former Chelsea player Romelu Lukaku, who clashed with Jose Mourinho over minutes before eventually requesting a move away. Lukaku is already pushing for a move away from Everton this summer, and it sounds as if his current club will allow that move to happen, though they'll certainly be  holding out for a very significant transfer fee. It wouldn't shock me to see Lukaku's price tag approach £60 million, which would make this the second time in recent memory that the Blues had to pay a huge fee to bring back a player that was at the club as a youngster.

Without knowing too much about the inner workings of the club, it's hard to know exactly how to feel about keeping Emenalo around. There's no doubting that the transfer dealings of the last several seasons have been largely disastrous, but prior to the appointment of Mourinho, most of Chelsea's transfer activity was excellent. With any luck, Emenalo and the rest of Chelsea's decision makers will be on the same page as Conte, and we'll see a return to the transfer successes of the pre-Mourinho era. Bringing back Lukaku would be a great start, as far as I'm concerned.