Lukaku withdraws transfer request, commits to Everton

Everton striker Romelu Lukaku has withdrawn his request for a transfer and committed his future to Everton, manager Ronald Koeman said on Saturday.

The Belgian international, 23, had asked for a move away from the Premier League outfit but this week change his mind and is now back in training, Koeman wrote in his column in the Dutch daily De Telegraaf.

"Ten days before the transfer deadline he came into the manager's office and said he was no longer leaving and had decide to stay at Everton," wrote Koeman.

"His decision is the same value as a big money transfer. He is not only a good player but a fine person. He lives his football in the fashion that you would want a top footballer to.”

"It is great to work with him and I think he had seen that we want to engineer improvement at every corner. To develop him into a really top player is the challenge before me."

Lukaku has scored 43 goals in 104 Everton appearances but had been linked with a return to Chelsea in recent months.