Tottenham 'hold exploratory talks around signing Chelsea flop Romelu Lukaku'

Tottenham have reportedly held exploratory talks with Chelsea over the possibility of signing Romelu Lukaku.

The Italian has become something of a forgotten man at Stamford Bridge, despite arriving for a club-record £97.5million fee just two years ago.

Lukaku spent last season on loan at Inter Milan, and was expected to make a permanent departure before reports claiming he preferred a move to rivals Juventus failed to endear him to fans.

The 30-year-old has been training alone since returning to Chelsea with Mauricio Pochettino making it clear that he will not factor in the club plans for the current campaign.

However, according to reports from Italy, the Belgian forward may still ply his trade in the Premier League this season.

Calcio Mercato claim that Tottenham have made preliminary contacts about Lukaku's availability with the Blues said to be keen on securing a fee of £38.5m to allow him to leave.

After months of speculation regarding his future at the club longtime Spurs talisman Harry Kane departed North London earlier this month, joining Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.

Despite the expectation that Spurs would look to immediately reinvest the funds raised by Kane's departure into a like-for-like replacement, Ange Postecoglou revealed that his current priority remains moving on his squad's deadwood.

'We can't just keep acquiring players when we've got too big of a squad as it is at the moment,' Postecoglou said speaking prior to Saturday's victory over Manchester United.

'It affects your training, it affects players themselves because ultimately they want to play and be involved. It's not so much one has to happen for the other but our focus at the moment is to try to trim the squad down and then see where that takes us in terms of reinforcements.

'We're constantly assessing that on a daily basis and there's still two weeks to go in the window. I'm sure you'll see some movements.'