Rumors have emerged that Chelsea will include out-of-place striker Loic Remy in a swap deal to try and acquire Belgian goalscorer Romelu Lukaku from fellow English Premier League side Everton before the summer transfer window closes at the end of the month.
The Blues have already seen their initial bid of £57 million for Lukaku get rejected last weekend by the Toffees, who are said to be demanding £75 million for the 23-year-old goalscoring machine.
There were other speculations that new head coach Antonio Conte is prepared to increase the offer to £68 million, but the Merseyside residents are keen on keeping their valuation of the Belgium international at £7 million more than what they can give.
Recently, Caught Offside reported that the Stamford Bridge giants are preparing to add the 29-year-old Remy to their offer plus £65 million in order to try and seal the Lukaku deal.
The France international had been an ill-fit for interim manager Guus Hiddink last season after appearing in only 13 games and scoring just once for the Fulham residents and it looks like coach Conte is also considering him as a surplus to his plans next term.
If the deal pushes through and Remy does exit the Bridge this summer, then it signals the secured future of Spanish striker Diego Costa with Chelsea next season. Costa had been the subject of many speculations about leaving the Blues for the past two transfer windows, but Conte had been adamant that they will not sell the Spain international any time soon.
Lukaku, for his part, is also said to be keen on returning to his former club, but the Toffees are unwilling to let him go at a lesser price.
Meanwhile, the Daily Express indicated that Conte had asked Chelsea "to go out and get their man to reinforce his strike force for the new season".
The Blues have already snagged Lukaku's national squad teammate Michy Batshuayi from Marseille, but the Italian mentor wants a trio of strikers up front for his lineup next term.
Conte is also looking closely at the team's matches in their ongoing preseason tour in the US as part of this summer's International Champions Cup competitions. The team have had a productive offseason to date, beating Liverpool and Milan, but coming up short against La Liga giants Real Madrid in a close game in Michigan attended by 105,826 fans, the second highest attendance in America.
