After 24 hours of speculation about the future of Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, West Ham's interest in the striker has been confirmed as the club have been in touch with the Blues over a permanent move to bring the Belgium international to East London.
Premier League rivals Swansea were this morning reported to be 'close' to sealing a loan move for the 20 year old and, realising that they risked being left behind in the race for the pacy forward, the Irons have this afternoon become the second club to enter negotiations with the Stamford Bridge club over Lukaku, who has spent this season on loan at West Brom.
However, the Daily Mail report that the inquiry was met by an insistence from Chelsea that no decision would be made over the future of the striker until a new manager is appointed, with interim boss Rafa Benitez's short-term deal due to expire at the end of the season.
Benitez himself has said this afternoon that he expects the Blues to 'spend £100m and sign three or four players,' and praised the young players currently at the club such as Oriel Romelu, Cesar Azpilicueta and Victor Moses but did not mention Lukaku, thus raising serious questions about the powerful striker's future at the club.
The Hammers are said to have asked Chelsea to keep them informed with any future developments regarding the player's future.
By Alex Shilling, News Editor
@alexshilling
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