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Everton striker Romelu Lukaku could have a big decision to make in the summer.

He is a fantastic athlete who scores lots of goals but he is still learning the game and, under the right coach and around better players, he is going to get better - the question is, where?
Everton are an ambitious club and a fantastic platform for Lukaku to continue his development but if a Champions League side come in for him and tell him he is going to be first choice, there is not much of an argument for him stay.

That is a big 'if' because he comes with a £60m price tag, but there is already plenty of speculation about Lukaku's next move .

The obvious club to splash out and throw the 23-year-old Belgian straight in the team would be his former side, Chelsea, if they were to sell Diego Costa.
Lukaku has already said he will not sign a new contract at Everton and, if he does get an offer from Chelsea at the end of the season, then it would be a no-brainer - he has to do it.

He would be Chelsea's main striker, playing in the Champions League and challenging for the title in a team which will give him lots of chances, which is exactly where he wants to be.
What he doesn't want is to be stuck on the bench somewhere.
For example, if Zlatan Ibrahimovic signs for another year at Manchester United and they come in for Lukaku, then he would be thinking: why would I go there now when I won't be playing every week?
Whichever club you name, if Lukaku joins them for next season and plays 45 games, scores 25 goals and wins a trophy, then he will have made the right choice. If he doesn't, then the argument will be that he should have stayed at Everton for another year, where he will definitely play and his stock could rise even higher.

It is a case of seeing who wants him, having that conversation with them about what his role would be and making a decision. As a player it is hard to know what the right choice is sometimes, but it is not a bad situation for him to be in, really.

'He can work on his touch but goalscoring is a gift'
Lukaku is the Premier League's leading scorer with 21 goals but his hold-up play still gets criticised when people question how good he is.
I actually think his touch is OK - yes it could be better, but there are not many top-flight strikers who are brilliant at link-up play. Costa can also be a bit sloppy at times, and Tottenham's Harry Kane is probably the best at it.

In any case, it is something that Lukaku can work on, along with his awareness. He will have to - the bigger the team you play for, the more packed defences you face and the less space you have to operate in.

But he is still young - he turns 24 next month - and those are the parts of your game that you can improve.
It is not just something that comes with age either. That development comes with playing with better players, who give you better quality balls from closer range.
His main asset as a striker, though, is his ability to score goals - with his right foot, left foot and his head.
That is a gift, and he does it so well that I really don't think the other parts of his game are a weakness, or would be a worry for any club buying him.
A flat-track bully? So are most strikers
Another claim I hear about Lukaku is that
he does not perform against the big teams, and it is true that most of his goals this season have come against lesser sides.
But that is true for most Premier League strikers, and there is a logical reason why.
When Everton play the top teams they do not have as much possession or create as many chances, and Lukaku is up against better defenders too.

He scored against Tottenham last month, but he is not going to go White Hart Lane and cause Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld as many problems as he does when he faces Sunderland's defence at the Stadium of Light, playing two centre-halves who are low on confidence and with Everton seeing loads of the ball.
The time when questions come is when you are a striker playing in a top team and you are not scoring against the other top teams.
But it is hard to judge Lukaku like that because he has not played against many big teams while being on an equal footing.

That is the opportunity a move to, say, Chelsea would provide him with - the step-up to play for a team that is going to give you more chances in every game, whoever the opposition.
There is nothing wrong with having that ambition. In fact, it is completely normal.
'I didn't see a Lukaku who wasn't trying for his team'.

Lukaku's refusal to sign a new Everton contract has been well publicised, and it means that when he plays people are looking for evidence that he is not happy, or does not care.
I don't think that is the case, and I don't agree with the claims he did not try hard enough in Tuesday's draw with Manchester United.

The on-pitch argument that Lukaku had with Ashley Williams seemed to start with Williams asking him to chase the ball more - my understanding from watching it was that he wanted Lukaku to get across the pitch when a couple of clearances went on the opposite side to where he was standing.
What I would say in Lukaku's defence was that he was very isolated and he could not really win, especially because many of the balls up to him were generally pretty poor - there is only so much pressing you can do when you are outnumbered.
I certainly didn't see a Lukaku who wasn't trying for his team.
Yes, he lost the ball too easily sometimes, and of course that means you are going to get a volley off the players behind you, because they want a rest. "Get hold of it, man" is the kind of thing they would be shouting.

But in terms of his work ethic and his running, then it looked to me like he was giving the same physical output as I've seen from him in games where he has played well and scored.
'I had lots of rows but a handshake and a hug, and everything is fine'

Lukaku's fall-out with Williams at Old Trafford was a mountain out of a mole-hill as far as I am concerned, because that sort of thing happens all the time.
Yes, Lukaku shushing him was a little bit condescending, but I have been shushed before and I have probably shushed people myself. It is not the end of the world.

It does not mean there is a serious rift between the pair of them. Quite the opposite, probably.
As a player, I had loads of rows with my team-mates during games and you quickly forget about it. When you have calmed down you have a handshake and a hug and everything is fine.

I remember one with Steven Gerrard when I was at Liverpool in a game against Leeds. He was my room-mate at the time and we were best buddies, but I had messed up in midfield and lost the ball after dwelling on it, and he had a right good go at me.

It was along the lines of "sort yourself out and get yourself going quickly" but not in those exact words, and I responded, very defensively, along similar lines without registering that he was actually right.

Even though the way I acted was poor, the volley he gave me actually did get me going, and I realised that after the game.

I apologised for coming back at him the way I did, and told him he was right but he just said don't worry, it is done with now - and that was that.

That is the way it should be, and I would be shocked if Williams and Lukaku had not sorted things out in the dressing room after the match or, at the very latest, in training the next day.
It didn't really matter who was right, and who was wrong, but I actually saw Lukaku's reaction as a positive. He cares, and wants to do well for the team.


That sort of passion is part of the game and it would be more of a worry for Everton - or any prospective buyers - if he didn't show any.

Chelsea boss Antonio Conte has dismissed stories linking him with a return to Italy this summer.

Reports in the manager's home country - quoting an agent, Federico Pastorello - had suggested he was considering a move, with Inter Milan the most likely destination.

"I'm very happy to stay," Conte said.
"I read this interview about Pastorello. I don't know him and I don't know why this person has spoken about me."
He added: "I worked in Italy. They want to come back for me in Italy. It's normal. I have two more years of contract with Chelsea.

"This is the truth. This is the most important thing. I don't like when I listen to other persons talking about me."

Conte, 47, also addressed speculation linking the Blues with New York City midfielder Andrea Pirlo - who played under Conte at Juventus.

Ray Wilkins, a former Chelsea player and assistant manager, told Talksport he had seen the 37-year-old at Stamford Bridge "on a number of occasions this year".

"He's the one that Antonio Conte would like to come in and replace assistant manager Steve Holland," he added.
But Conte said: "Andrea Pirlo is playing and he wants to continue to play. I don't know why someone wants to put this type of situation for me."

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane is set to miss the last seven games of the season with a knee injury.

Mane, 24, was taken off after colliding with Leighton Baines in Saturday's 3-1 home victory over Everton.

Manager Jurgen Klopp said he was "pretty sure" Mane needed surgery, leaving it "pretty much impossible for him to play again this season".
The £34m signing from Southampton has started all but five of Liverpool's league games this campaign.

Of those, three were drawn and two were lost. The Reds are third in the Premier League table with seven games left.

Klopp also said Adam Lallana was "much better but is not in training" as the midfielder continues his recovery from a thigh injury suffered on England duty in March.

Captain Jordan Henderson, who has been out since February, is "in a good way, but I don't know when he can be part of training again", the German added.

. The amount paid by English clubs to agents has risen by 38% - up from £160m to £220m.
The Premier League paid £174m to agents, up from £130m, with Manchester City being the biggest spenders (£26.3m) ahead of Chelsea (£25.1m) and Manchester United (£19m).
Even England's second tier, the Championship, spent £42.4m on agents, an increase of 62%.
The Football Association figures cover February 2016 to January 2017.

They come two years after the last full-year results (2014-15).
How much did your club spend on agents?
Premier League teams spent a record £1.38bn on transfers in the 2016-17 season.
In both League One and League Two the total spending on agents and intermediaries decreased from the 2014-15 figures.

League One sides spent £3,098,508, down from £3,167,964, while League Two teams spent £821,450, down from £1,007,920.
The player
Former England, West Ham and QPR winger Trevor Sinclair
I was very fortunate.

I met a good agent quite early on in my career after some bad experiences. He took care of negotiations, which is standard, made sure I was pitching myself at the right amount of money to be earning weekly, monthly, annually.

On top of that he helped me with financial advice, he helped me with marketing, exit strategies when I finished football, and also just day-to-day things - he was always preaching to do your best and try to look after yourself.
The influence that agents have got now in the game is unbelievable.

You look at some of the biggest clubs in the UK and Europe, and there are certain super agents who, for me, have too much power.
In relation to deals, I think the money should be capped in some way. If you're doing a deal for a player moving for £1m why would there be another £1m going missing to agents' fees? It's unacceptable, for me, that kind of money going out of the game, when that could be easily used for grassroots football.
The agent
Jonathan Barnett of the Stellar Group
Agents have a bad reputation because nobody really understands what an agent does and that includes, probably, the FA. It's not deserved.

More MPs have committed illegal acts than agents. I think it's unjust, a very unjust one.
People get confused when they hear of an agent. They think it's somebody that does transfers, runs around from one club to another trying to sell players. They are more traders and brokers. There are very few of those agents and very few that really matter.

However, what we are as an agency and what other reputable companies are, are people that look after players. We don't look after clubs
. We don't look after anybody else, we look after the player. And by that, we make sure their life is properly run, any problems are taken care of and their life is made very easy so that all they can do is concentrate on playing football.
We get paid for what we're worth. If we do a good job for our player then we get paid. If we do a bad job, we don't. There are plenty of agents who don't earn a living.
You've got to be good at what you do and then you get paid rightly.
The chairman

Stoke City chairman Peter Coates
Football clubs, especially top clubs, are getting more and more income, so what happens? Players get bigger and bigger wages, and agents therefore get bigger and bigger fees. It's a product of the marketplace we're in, so I'm not surprised.

I wish it were less, but we're in a marketplace, highly competitive. We've never been able to get any traction and get an agreement to say we'll all dock pay more than X, whether it's 5%, 10% or whatever the figure could be.
There seems a reluctance to go down that route. There's no other way we could perhaps rein in what agents get.
There are good agents, less good agents and they can earn huge amounts of money. That sometimes can attract the wrong sort of person because the prize is so high. It's one of those facts of life. We wish it was different, but we seem incapable of controlling it. All clubs do their best, obviously we don't want to pay any more than we have to. But it's a tough market. They play the field, which they're entitled to, and it's not easy.
The agents have a huge amount of influence on the players and you have to give them credit for earning that confidence from the players. They trust the players more than they trust the football club.here seems a reluctance to go down that route. There's no other way we could perhaps rein in what agents get.

There are good agents, less good agents and they can earn huge amounts of money. That sometimes can attract the wrong sort of person because the prize is so high. It's one of those facts of life. We wish it was different, but we seem incapable of controlling it. All clubs do their best, obviously we don't want to pay any more than we have to. But it's a tough market. They play the field, which they're entitled to, and it's not easy.


The agents have a huge amount of influence on the players and you have to give them credit for earning that confidence from the players. They trust the players more than they trust the football club.

Liverpool have been fined £100,000 by the Premier League and handed a two-year ban on signing academy players from other clubs for a rule breach.
It relates to the club's approach to a 12-year-old academy player at Stoke City in September last year.

Liverpool will be banned from signing any academy players who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club in the previous 18 months.
This second year of the ban will be suspended for a three-year period.
In September 2016 Liverpool made an application to register the Stoke City Academy player and compensation was agreed.

But the application was rejected by the Premier League Board.
An investigation by the Premier League found that Liverpool spoke to the youngster and his family before they should have and also paid for him and some of his family to attend a game at Anfield.

Liverpool alsro offered to pay the player's school fees, which were being paid by Stoke at this time, but this was a breach of newly-introduced regulations which state a benefit can only be offered if it is applicable to all youngsters across the club's academy and this was not the case.
Premier League rules ban the offer of any inducements from clubs to encourage a move.
Liverpool have admitted the rule breaches.