• Chelsea and Anderlecht delegation to thrash out
deal
• Blues want to sign Genk's Kevin de Bruyne
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."
