It is that time of year again- summer transfer rumor silly season! The domestic leagues and European competitions are complete, so it’s time to talk about who could be going where, why and for how much this summer transfer window. For Chelsea, newly crowned European champions, it figures to be a massive summer spending spree once again.
We begin with news of Romelu Lukaku potentially coming back. It’s not secret Inter Milan have to cut costs, all over the organization, and that includes the wage bill.
In a summer where Erling Haaland and Harry Kane could be hitting the open market, and commanding astronomical fees, Lukaku would look like a bargain. That is, of course, all in a relative sense as Big Rom is expected to command about £100 million in this market.
According to The Guardian, “Inter will do all they can to keep Lukaku after signing him for £74m from Manchester United two years ago. The Italians will not want to make a loss on him and will first look to raise funds by selling the right-back Achraf Hakimi and the Argentina forward Lautaro Martínez.”
The Big Belgian moved for £75m from Everton when he signed with United in 2017. His move to Old Trafford came as a shock, given that conventional wisdom at the time had him moving back to Chelsea.
The Guardian report goes on state the Chelsea will look to offload some of their fringe and squad players in order to pay for the Lukakau acquisition. That list includes Tammy Abraham, Ross Barkley, Emerson Palmieri, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Fikayo Tomori.
The last name we listed could see his loan deal at AC Milan made permanent, according to reports, and that it would bring £25m. As for the first name we listed, he really needs and deserves a new home. Abraham was the team’s joint leading scorer this past season, and yet he’s still way out of favor.
Timo Werner was a flop, Kai Havertz was a UCL hero, but still disappointed greatly this past season. And yet Abraham still can’t get in the squad over them, so that means he’d find much greener pastures elsewhere, as he’s still a very talented young player.
Expect him to move on this summer, ditto for Olivier Giroud, when Chelsea sign a new striker this summer.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “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, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.