Atletico Madrid will attempt to push through a move for Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku after allowing Diego Costa to leave for Stamford Bridge.
Costa will be Jose Mourinho’s first-choice hitman next season after the Special One identified a lack of goals from Fernando Torres, Samuel Eto’o and Demba Ba as a problem.
Lukaku has spent the past two seasons on loan at West Brom and Everton and has shown a keen eye for goal away from SW6.
But the big Belgian has become disgruntled with life in west London after being overlooked and the acquisition of Costa has done nothing to smooth things over.
Atletico see Lukaku, who signed for the Blues from Anderlecht for £18million in 2011, as a ready-made replacement for Costa and are ready to follow up their interest.
Diego Simeone, the Atletico manager, would prefer a loan deal but it is believed Chelsea are ready to cash in on the 21-year-old and are looking for a sizeable fee.
Juventus will rival the Madrid club for his signature.
That gives them the edge in the race for Lukaku’s signature but the Belgian striker is only focused on the World Cup after guiding his team into the quarter-finals last night.
“I’m not thinking about my future while I’m in Brazil - that would be wrong,” he said last month.
“I’ll deal with that after the World Cup. It would be selfish to think of that while I’m here, so my focus is only for my country.
“I’m a team player and think first of my team, not myself. That’s why, even as a striker, I play football to win, not to score.
“As an individual, I do not count. We’re here to represent our country the best way we can and that is being a team.”
Lukaku’s Belgium will play Argentina in a mouthwatering last-eight clash on Saturday night.
