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Lukaku's future in Chelsea's hands

Belgian's agent in wait-and-see mode

Romelu Lukaku's agent says he hasn't discounted his client staying at Chelsea next season but admits that it's too soon to say.

With none of his forwards catching fire this season, it is no secret that Jose Mourinho will be shopping for big-name striking targets this summer, with the likes of Diego Costa, Mario Mandžukić and Ezequiel Lavezzi being bandied about in the press but Christophe Henrotay says that the London side "need lots of great strikers," and there may still be room for Lukaku at Stamford Bridge.

There has been media speculation that Mourinho's decision to allow Lukaku to go out on a second season-long loan this season with Everton was due to his lack of faith in the 20 year-old and that has led to plenty of talk of him leaving Chelsea this summer.

He would likely have many suitors, not only from clubs in the Premier League but also Serie A and the Bundesliga, and then there is Everton's desire to keep him after a successful campaign which has yielded 14 goals in all competitions going into the last game of the season.

Roberto Martinez has made it clear how much he would like to sign the Belgian on a permanent basis but has himself admitted that any deal would take time and would likely not get rolling until after the World Cup.

Even then, if Lukaku has a good tournament with Belgium and the Blues are forced into a bidding war, the player's price tag may prove prohibitive.

"For the moment, Romelu belongs to Chelsea," Henrotay told footmercato.net. "He has two years left on his contract. It's going to depend on Chelsea. After that, we'll see together what the best options are if Chelsea decide to let him go.

"That they want to bring in a big-name striker has been well-documented. But Chelsea need lots of great strikers. And if there are too many, they'll choose to allow Romelu to leave. But if they think there aren't enough forwards, perhaps Romelu will say, 'I'm interested in prolonging the adventure.' But it's still too soon."

For his part, Lukaku spoke at Everton's end-of-season awards dinner of how the past season has been the highlight of his career so far. He has also said he is both ready and deserving of playing Champions League football, something the Blues wouldn't be able to offer for another season at the earliest.

Quotes sourced from ESPN

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