Everton manager Ronald Koeman has admitted that he is still hopeful of seeing star striker Romelu Lukaku remain at the club beyond the end of this summer's transfer window.
The 23-year-old cast doubt on his future at Goodison Park earlier this month when revealing that he intends to join a club that can regularly compete for silverware both domestically and in Europe.
Lukaku has showed no signs of backtracking on those remarks, reiterating last week that he does not plan on signing a new deal on Merseyside and will therefore depart on a free contract in two years' time if not sold beforehand.
Former club Chelsea are the early frontrunners to sign Lukaku in a mega-money transfer, which could also see Michy Batshuayi head in the opposite direction as a makeweight, but if Koeman has his say the Belgium international will not be going anywhere just yet.
"Remember, he has two years left on his contract," he is quoted as saying by The Mirror. "If it was up to me? Yes. I would keep him for next season at least."
Lukaku leads the scoring charts in the Premier League this season, finding the net 21 times in all to recently become the Toffees' leading all-time scorer in the competition.
Daniel Lewis
