5 players who rejected a transfer to Chelsea

#3 Romelu Lukaku

Chelsea v Manchester United - The Emirates FA Cup Final

Rather perplexingly, Chelsea have bought and sold certain players, only to end up buying them again, with names like Nemanja Matic and David Luiz coming to mind.

Similarly, a certain Romelu Lukaku played for Chelsea and was shipped out on loan to Everton. After performing well there, he was brought back into the Blues fold and played a bit-part substitute role, competing for places with the likes of Didier Drogba, Diego Costa, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o.

Opportunities were hard to come by for young Lukaku and thus, despite turning in spectacular performances for Everton and arising eyebrows across Europe, he was sold to Everton.

Fast forward to 2017, Lukaku has developed into one of the most effective and coveted strikers across Europe and has become, in 5 short years, Everton's all time leading goalscorer. He was ready to leave Everton to join other heavyweights to win silverware. Still young at 25, he was aggressively pursued by many clubs across Europe, including Chelsea.

Chelsea required a striker after Diego Costa, who despite spending fruitful seasons at the Bridge and winning silverware, left Chelsea after relationships broke down between him and Chelsea manager Antonio Conte. Lukaku was Chelsea's prime target and Chelsea boasted of experience in the field of recapturing players who once played for the Blues but had since become prized commodities in the transfer market after flourishing in other teams once sold.

Chelsea attempted the same with Lukaku, agreeing to match the lofty transfer fee that Everton lined up for him, however, the deal did not materialize in the end and Lukaku opted to move to Manchester United in the end. After a bright start to life at United, Lukaku's contributions have been inconsistent of late but there is still no denying the absolute talent and skills that he has.

Lukaku has forever become a missed opportunity for the Blues now. To think of what could've been.