Will Romelu Lukaku be at Everton next season?

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has been in superb form scoring 18 goals this season in the Premier League

According to TalkSPORT, Everton striker Romelu Lukaku is set to sign a new five-year deal with the Merseysiders.

The striker joined the Toffees for a club record fee of £28million from Chelsea in 2014, having initially impressed on a season-long loan at Goodison Park.

Last weekend Lukaku become the club’s highest-ever Premier League scorer by netting his 61^st goal in the English top-flight in a 3-2 defeat at Tottenham.

The goal was his 18^th of the Premier League campaign, which equalled his best goalscoring tally for a campaign set last season.

Attracting attention from elsewhere

Lukaku’s performances over the past few seasons have attracted the interest of some Europe’s richest clubs. Former club Chelsea have been the club most heavily linked with a move for the striker.

If the Premier League leaders are to sign the Belgian, then they are likely going to have to pay more than double what they sold the star for in 2014. He has grown up as a player on Merseyside and it is now showing in his goal tally.

At 23 years old he seems to have been around a long time. Lukaku became frustrated sitting on the Chelsea bench, despite his tender years. He took the gamble of moving to Everton and the decision has paid off handsomely for everybody involved.

Wants to test himself on a higher stage

Since moving to Everton, Lukaku has constantly talked about testing himself on the Champions League stage. It is difficult to remember sometimes that the Toffees challenged for a top-four spot in the season that the striker was on loan at the club, only to finish fifth.

The Toffees looked set to challenge at the top end of the league under Roberto Martinez. However, the second and third seasons under the Spaniard were disappointing. The poor campaigns led to the appointment of Ronald Koeman last summer.

Arguably Lukaku has never really been at the level to play on a regular basis for a team playing in the Champions League, until this season that is. The striker’s all-around game has improved immensely this season.

At times he is still a flat-track bully with a lot of his goals coming against the weaker sides this season in the top-flight. The striker is also not as consistent as many would like him to be, either. His goals tally this season is rather skewed by a hat-trick against hapless Sunderland and four goals against out-of-form Bournemouth.

Lukaku may still have room for improvement. However, his ability surely means that he is too good to be playing for a midtable team, which is what Everton have been for the last few seasons.

Things are progressing under Koeman

Everton may have been a midtable team for the last few seasons. However, things seem to be on the turn on the blue half of Merseyside. Koeman is building a promising team and as full-back Leighton Baines recently stated the Blues seem to be entering a new era.

The Toffees are currently seventh in the Premier League and considered the best of the rest. The Merseysiders still have designs on finishing in the top six, which they are odds of 7/1 to achieve this season.

There is a sense that Lukaku would quite happily stay at Everton if they were in the Champions League. He realises that the majority of Evertonian’s rate him very highly and the striker also knows that he is will play games at the Merseyside club.

Everton are moving forward and signs are that Lukaku is happy enough with that development to sign a new deal. However, Koeman offered a note of caution in his weekly press conference that just because he signs a new deal does not mean he will be at the club next season.

If Lukaku stays beyond this season and Everton do not make the top-four next season then it seems unlikely that the Belgium international striker will still be at the club. Even if they do he could still move on if he is still producing the goods in front of goal.

For now, Lukaku needs to concentrate on improving and helping Everton to achieve the highest position they can this season. Lukaku’s ambitions and Everton’s as a club are very similar, whether the Toffees can get to fulfil those ambitions quickly enough to keep Lukaku remains to be seen, though.

Will Romelu Lukaku be at Everton next season?