Romelu Lukaku announced earlier this week that he would not be signing a new contract with Everton. The 23-year old joined the Toffees from Chelsea for a club-record fee of £28 million in July 2014 after a successful loan spell with the club and has since gone on to establish himself as one of the hottest young strikers in world Football.
Lukaku's revelations will no doubt attract the interest of several of the Premier League and Europe's big-spending clubs with the Belgian international continuing to impress yet again this season. However, Everton manager Ronald Koeman has sent out a stark warning to Lukaku regarding the forward's current contract situation.
Lukaku angers Everton manager Koeman
Koeman, who took over as Everton boss in the summer, has said that he will not be held to ransom by any of his players and that some of Lukaku's recent comments in the media have angered the Dutchman. Lukaku cited his main reasons for not signing a new contract with the club were down to Everton's lack of ambition to win trophies and bring in bigger names in the transfer market, something Koeman claims to be untrue.
At the press conference, ahead of this Saturday's Premier League game at home to Hull, Koeman told media that he would not be Everton manager if he felt the club lacked "ambition" and that although he was "not happy" about Lukaku's recent comments, with two years left on his current deal he claimed that Lukaku still needed to "respect" his contract.
Despite revealing that Lukaku may be punished for the comments made in his recent interview, Koeman said he would not drop the Belgian for Saturday's game, adding that apart from some of the quotes which had frustrated the club that the 23-year old was continuing to show the right attitude in training.
Lukaku to leave Everton in the summer?
Lukaku is currently the Premier League's joint top goal scorer alongside Tottenham's Harry Kane on 19 for the season. He is also one of only five players in the history of the league to score 50 Premier League goals before his 23rd birthday. The striker has regularly talked about his desire to compete in the Champions League and with Everton already being forced to fend off interest from former club Chelsea last summer, the Toffees will struggle to hold onto their prized asset when the transfer window reopens in June.
