Chelsea make formal offer for hotshot Romelu Lukaku

The phony war over the future of Belgian wunderkid Romelu Lukaku may finally be over after the BBC reported that Chelsea had made a formal offer for the teenager, who is currently with Anderlecht.

The 18-year-old has been tracked by the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Spurs for months, but Chelsea are the first to have make an official bid for the striker, who has been likened to Didier Drogba.

The Blues have been in talks with Anderlecht for some time, but so far no official offer had been tabled. And even though a bid has now been made there is no word on how big it is, although Anderlecht were reported to want as much as £25m for him.

If Lukaku's other suitors decide to fight for his signature it could trigger a bidding war among some of the Premier League's biggest clubs.

Liverpool are close to signing striker Marco Bueno (right), a Mexican hotshot likened to a teenage Javier Hernandez, according to the Sun. Currently with the Mexican First Division club Pachuca, Bueno helped his country win the Under-17 World Cup.

"We are conducting negotiations with Liverpool," said Pachuca vice-president Andres Fassi. "Possibly on August 1 Marco Bueno will pay a visit to Liverpool." The Mail claims Kenny Dalglish has invited 17-year-old Bueno over for a 10-day trial, with a view to signing him to a five-year contract.

The possibility of the Argentine starlet Javier Pastore joining Manchester City from Italian outfit Palermo increased after the club president Maurizio Zamparini told reporters: "Yesterday, I spoke to a big European club and they said they would pay between €45m-€50m for Pastore. At this point, I think we can sort out the situation in 10 days."

Though Zamparin refused to disclose the club in question, it's believed to be City as the other interested parties – Real Madrid, Juventus and Barcelona – haven't got that sort of cash to burn on the attacking midfielder.

As for City's more famous Argentine, striker Carlos Tevez, one thing is now for sure – the Brazilian club Corinthians won't be signing him.

After 48 hours of claim and counter-claim from the two clubs, an announcement was posted on Corinthians' official website saying: "The director of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista comes forward officially to communicate the impossibility of the signing of Argentinian forward Carlos Tevez.

"While recognising Manchester City's efforts and those of everyone involved, there's no more time for the signing to be finalised, considering that the window to sign players from abroad ends on Wednesday, July 20."

It's alleged that the main sticking point to the £40m deal was how exactly the money should be paid, with Corinthians preferring instalments over four years, something that wasn't acceptable to City.

The failed deal doesn't appear to have upset City's spending power, however, with the Daily Mail claiming that the Sky Blues still intend to buy striker Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid for £38m.

The 23-year–old Aguero scored 20 goals in 32 games last season in the Spanish league and apparently City have promised to pay him £152,000 a week after tax. A decision is due by Friday with Atletico eager to seal the deal and use the money to strengthen their own squad.

Arsenal are still looking to strengthen next season's squad, according to chief executive Ivan Gazidi, despite the fact that so far the Gunners have only Lille striker Gervinho and 19-year-old Charlton defender Carl Jenkinson to show for their troubles.

The Metro suggests that Arsenal are closing in on one of either Gary Cahill or Christopher Samba and quotes Gazidis as saying: "We still will be active in this window. We haven't finished our business at all. We're just not conducting it publicly; we're working hard privately."

Arsenal are in desperate need of a decent defender and have been linked with Cahill and Samba for months and Gazidis urged the fans to be patient: "We understand where the weaknesses have been. Financially we're in a strong position, we have resources to spend. We're certainly not sitting there saying ‘Let's hold back on our resources' for some reason, why would we?"

Another player who has been touted as a possible Gunner for a long time is Belgian striker Eden Hazard who, like Gervinho, helped Lille to a domestic double in the French league last season. In an interview with French broadcaster RMC Sport, Lille manager Rudi Garcia acknowledged the rumours but said: "We have not received any formal offer for Hazard, not from France or England. At the moment there is nothing happening and next season he will play with us in the Champions League."

Meanwhile another Arsenal target, teenage Southampton winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has used the Daily Mail to beg the club to let him fulfil his destiny and join the Gunners.

"Southampton, and especially the fans, have been brilliant to me ever since I broke into the first team," said the 17-year-old. "It has been fantastic helping them to get promoted. But now I feel I'm ready to play in the Premier League."

According to reports, Saints chairman Nicola Cortese refuses to countenance the sale of Oxlade-Chamberlain to Arsenal, seeing him as an integral part of the squad following their promotion to the Championship. ·