Chelsea is still in contention to land Everton striker Romelu Lukaku before the summer transfer window closes as the Toffees are rumored to be eyeing Southampton forward Charlie Austin as a potential replacement for the Belgium international should they decide to finally sell him.
The Blues had been wooing Everton to sell the 23-year-old goalscorer all summer, but no deals are yet to be reached between the two English Premier League clubs with only weeks away before the closing of his summer's window.
New head coach Antonio Conte was initially reported to have submitted a £65 million bid for Lukaku, but his offer was turned down by the Goodison Park residents as they want £75 million as payment. The Italian mentor then said to have added striker Loic Remy and goalkeeper Asmir Begovic to the package plus the £65 million cash, but the Toffees are keen on staying with their asking price.
The Sun reported that newly-hired Everton manager Ronald Koeman has been looking closely at his former Saints center-forward, 27-year-old Austin, to fill-up Lukaku's void up front should they finally opt to earn profit from the Belgian forward.
Koeman was the one responsible for bringing Austin to Southampton from Queens Park Rangers for £4million during last January's winter window and the Englishman scored a goal in five domestic games for Everton ever since.
The Dutch gaffer is said to be keen on a reunion with the 6-foot-2 Hungerford, England native, who scored 48 goals in 89 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops from 2013-2014 to 2015-2016.
Austin is said to be a surplus to new Southampton boss Claude Puel's plans this term and could be available this summer.
Meanwhile, Caught Offside noted that "the fact that Everton are supposedly looking at attacking options would suggest that they could be planning for life without" Lukaku.
This means that a sale to Chelsea could be forthcoming in the next weeks before the English summer transfer window ends on Sep. 1.
Conte is said to be planning to link his resident Stamford Bridge striker Diego Costa with Lukaku to form a two-headed attacking duo after he admitted of his belief that Chelsea is one of the main Premier League title contenders this season.