Robert Lewandowski has been repeatedly linked with a move to the Premier League ever since his flight from Poznan to Blackburn was famously cancelled in 2010 due to the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano (sub-question: has anyone in the English-speaking world ever typed out rather than cutting and pasting it from Google?).

But Lewy’s UK move may finally be about to happen, partly due to the eruption of a Spanish volcano known as Diego Costa. The Mirror claims Chelsea have made a bid to sign the Bayern Munich superstar as a replacement for their fiery striker.

The Blues have reportedly made a “serious enquiry” (as opposed a frivolous enquiry?) for the “unsettled” Pole who – despite sealing his third straight Bundesliga title at the Allianz Arena – is apparently unhappy with his Bayern team-mates because they “didn’t do enough” to make him the league’s top scorer (he missed out to Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang by one goal). Diddums.

Chelsea are undeterred by this outrageous sulking and are looking to “capitalise” on the uncertainty surrounding Lewandowski’s future.

Blackburn would still be interested too, but unfortunately they’ve just done all their transfer budget on Rotherham’s Richie Smallwood (Sky Sports).

Costa, meanwhile, has opened negotiations with his former club Atletico Madrid, who may get around their transfer embargo but signing him on loan until January (Mirror).

Playing hardball

Manchester City’s quest to sign all the world’s full-backs continues with their renewed attempt to buy Tottenham’s Kyle Walker, despite being on the verge of also signing Dani Alves from Juventus.

The Star says Spurs chairman Daniel Levy is typically “playing hardball” over a transfer fee by demanding £45m for the England right-back, although that’s £15m less than the £60m he apparently wanted a couple of weeks ago (it’s almost as if the papers are just plucking numbers from the sky).

Juve are planning to replace Alves with Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian, according to Goal, which would add a few more million quid to the Red Devils’ Cristiano Ronaldo fund. The Real Madrid star “would only return to Old Trafford” if he leaves the Bernabeu, says the Record. The one-billion euro release clause sounds a bit steep though.

Liverpool will break their transfer record “two more times” this summer after tying up a £38m deal for Roma midfielder Mohamed Salah, says the Mirror. Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has prioritised a “central midfield controller” (possibly Naby Keita) and a “centre-back” (definitely not Virgil van Dijk), both of whom would “cost significantly more than Salah”.

Elsewhere, West Ham have opened contract talks with midfielder Pedro Obiang amid interest from Everton, Sevilla and AC Milan (Mirror), Swansea have enquired about Fenerbahce’s former Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel as they brace themselves for bids for Alfie Mawson (Mail) and Chelsea are planning a “shock move” for 21-year-old Middlesbrough winger Adama Traore (Mirror). On the plus side, he was the Premier League’s best dribbler last season. On the downside, he scored 0 goals and got 1 assist in 1537 minutes of football, which is a slightly worse record than Gary Cahill’s.

@darlingkevin