Saturday 20 August 2016 13:16, UK
Romelu Lukaku has withdrawn his transfer request and committed his future to Everton, manager Ronald Koeman has revealed.
The Belgian international, 23, had asked for a move away from the club and had been linked with a return to Chelsea.
But Koeman said the striker has changed his mind and is now back in training after recovering from a cut to his heel suffered in pre-season.
"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," Koeman wrote in his column in Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
"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."
It is a boost for the Merseyside club ahead of Saturday's game with West Brom and follows the £25 million signing this week of Yannick Bolasie from Crystal Palace.
Lukaku has scored 43 league goals for the Toffees since moving from Chelsea for £28 million in 2013 which included a season-long loan spell.
Koeman previously said the Belgian international had not been distracted by speculation around his future.
