According to multiple reports, Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku has informed his team that he wants to go back to Chelsea FC, and it appears the move will be finalized very quickly. Don’t be surprised if the transfer gets officially announced sometime this weekend.
Typically, whenever the player himself has decided on a transfer, it’s only a matter of time until the two clubs involved hammer out the details. Lukaku wants to go back to the club that is in his heart, because that’s where he first cut his teeth. Journalists Fabrizio Romano and Adam Newson have more below:
Chelsea are now pushing to sign Romelu Lukaku, and to complete the deal as soon as possible. ? #CFC
Lukaku’s open to accept personal terms [€12m net] – if Inter and Chelsea will agree on fee/details.
New official Chelsea bid coming soon – fee expected to be more than €110m.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 5, 2021
Added bonus if – but almost certainly when – Romelu Lukaku rejoins Chelsea is that he counts as a homegrown player in the Premier League and an association trained player in the Champions League.
— Adam Newson (@AdamNewson) August 5, 2021
Inter had been adamant about holding on to Big Rom this summer, and they put a hefty price on the big Belgian. However, things have escalated quickly in the past 48-72 hours, and it looks like Chelsea will get the new center forward they have been seeking all summer long.
Once they realized that Borussia Dortmund superstar Erling Haaland wasn’t coming, they quickly moved on to a familiar face, one who left the club in 2014.
According to Sports Illustrated (via the Standard), the reigning Serie A champions will accept a bid of “between £100 and £110 million for Lukaku,” and the striker will sign “a five-year contract at the club, as per the report, worth in the region of £212,000-a-week.”
From there, other transfer dominoes will fall, first and foremost Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, and we will cover that in another post shortly.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.