By Aaron Hindhaugh • Published: 11 Jul 2023 • 14:10
An image of inside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.
Romelu Lukaku’s Chelsea future is still very much up in the air with him set to return to pre-season training next Monday on July 17th.
The Belgian striker spent last season on loan at Inter Milan but a lack of form and some injuries have seemingly made any potential permanent transfer a lot more difficult with Inter unwilling to pay a huge fee.
Lukaku has repeatedly already turned down all approaches from clubs out in Saudi Arabia as he wishes to continue his playing career at the very top level of European football, although it remains to be seen if he’s quite good enough to do so.
This is because in the Champions League final he only came on for the latter part of the second half but managed to block a certain goal and also missed a glorious chance to take the game into extra time, showing his lack of form and confidence.
It’s been reported that Inter are willing to bring Lukaku back to the San Siro either on loan or on a permanent basis, however, the transfer fee will have to be quite low, perhaps as much as £35 million given their financial woes.
Inter are not the only club in Europe to have registered a recent interest in the striker as Tottenham Hotspur have been tipped to make a move for the beast, although that could well depend on the future of Harry Kane.
Romelu Lukaku is now due to return at training with Chelsea on July 17th. 🔵🇧🇪 No decision made yet on player side on how to handle pre-season situation — it will be discussed in few days. Inter will return with new bid very soon. pic.twitter.com/i7ppiSeI5e — Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 11, 2023
Romelu Lukaku is now due to return at training with Chelsea on July 17th. 🔵🇧🇪
No decision made yet on player side on how to handle pre-season situation — it will be discussed in few days.
Inter will return with new bid very soon. pic.twitter.com/i7ppiSeI5e
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 11, 2023
Lukaku arrived back in England with Chelsea having torn up the Serie A with Inter Milan but after a bright start, it was clear that his skillset wasn’t suited to the Blues as he wasn’t being utilised like he was out in Italy and now it seems he won’t be the man to lead the line for Mauricio Pochettino either.
Fabrizio Romano has revealed that while Lukaku and Inter are keen on getting a deal thrashed out, the Italian side aren’t acting on that with Chelsea as no decision has been made on his future and as things stand, he will be back in pre-season next week.
It’s a shame to see how far Lukaku has fallen in such a short period of time but he’s still only 30 years old so has a lot of growth and ability to give to the game of football, it just depends on where or not Inter can afford his hefty wages and price tag.
Given Chelsea’s off-field Financial Fair Play woes they will be desperate to get their £325,000 per week earner off of their books this summer, but they could also have to compromise on how much they ask for in terms of a transfer fee.
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