Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has insisted that he would not swap Diego Costa for Romelu Lukaku ahead of his side's trip to face Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.
Lukaku is the Premier League's top-scorer this season with 24 goals to his name, five more than Chelsea's main striker Costa, who has been linked with a summer exit from Stamford Bridge.
The ongoing uncertainty surrounding Lukaku's future with the Toffees has led to speculation that he could rejoin Chelsea as Costa's replacement, but Conte stressed that he already has the best players in the world at his disposal.
"As I've said before, for me my players are the best in the world. I wouldn't change my players with any other players," the Italian told reporters.
"I think that Lukaku for sure is a really good player, he's scoring a lot of goals this season. You have to pay him great attention but it's always the same, we study the opponent and we try to find the best solution to stop them, about single players and about the team.
"Yes we must pay great attention to Lukaku, but also Everton's other players. They have a lot of good players with good technique."
Fourteen of Lukaku's 15 Premier League goals in 2017 have come at Goodison Park.
Barney Corkhill
