Romelu Lukaku hopes to finalise his dream £20m move to Chelsea on Saturday at a meeting between power-brokers in Monaco. The 18-year-old Anderlecht and Belgium striker, dubbed the new Didier Drogba because of his physical power, has made it clear that he wants to join Chelsea, the club that he has supported, despite interest from elsewhere in England and Europe.
Lukaku's agent, Christophe Henrotay, who is based in Monaco, will welcome the Anderlecht general manager, Herman van Holsbeeck, and a delegation from Stamford Bridge, and the parties will seek to conclude the transfer. Lukaku, a prodigy, was followed by a TV documentary crew for a year and, while on a school trip to London, he visited Stamford Bridge and was filmed giving a mock interview in the press area in which he declared his ambition to play for the club.
Chelsea also want to sign Kevin de Bruyne, the 19-year-old Genk and Belgium left-winger, and his representative will be at the talks in Monaco. Chelsea's intention would be to loan De Bruyne straight out, with Anderlecht keen to take him, though Genk would probably refuse to help their rivals. Complicating matters further is the notion that Anderlecht could use the proceeds of the Lukaku sale to sign De Bruyne permanently.
Chelsea have suggested a loan to Vitesse Arnhem in the Netherlands but De Bruyne considers that a step down. He helped his club to the Belgian title and, at present, he can look forward to playing in next season's Champions League. Genk would prefer to be the beneficiaries of any loan back. Anderlecht may turn to the Monaco striker Dieumerci Mbokani to replace Lukaku, who has emerged as one of the hottest prospects in European football.
Meanwhile, the Turkish football federation has threatened to report Chelsea to Fifa if the club do not behave appropriately in their pursuit of the manager Guus Hiddink. The federation's president, Mahmut Ozgener, appeared to indicate that Chelsea will need to meet his compensation demands to conclude a deal.
"Chelsea has a past record for signing players who are under contract," Ozgener told the newspaper Hurriyet, though the club were cleared of wrongdoing in the much publicised case of Gaël Kakuta's signing from Lens. "If the same thing happens, we will make a file of the payments we made to Hiddink and we will go to Fifa."
