Chelsea are getting closer to signing Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku, and are planning on submitting their second official bid for the striker.
They previously had a bid turned down which involved €100 million + Marcos Alonso. The total value of the bid was around €120-130 million. The London club are expected to submit another formal bid for him by the end of the week. The contract being offered to the Belgian international is worth €12 million per season.
Lukaku himself is open to returning to Chelsea. He previously featured for the Blues as a youth player, but could not break into the first team. After two loan spells at West Brom and Everton respectively, he joined the latter on a permanent deal in 2014. He endured a difficult spell at Manchester United, and was then sold to Inter Milan in 2019. At 28, Lukaku has realised his potential and has scored 20+ goals in both seasons in Italy.
The Belgian international is now the alternative for Chelsea in the number 9 position, following their interest in Erling Haaland. Chelsea did not submit an offer for the Dortmund player, but need to sign a striker before the season begins.
Inter are eyeing Duvan Zapata of Atalanta as a replacement for Lukaku, since he has a similar profile. Atalanta, on the other hand, are planning to sign Tammy Abraham from Chelsea as their replacement for Zapata. The Serie A outfit are expected to talk to Chelsea about their academy graduate in the coming week.
