The 29-year-old Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku is set to return to the Italian club Inter on loan for the new season.
Fabrizio Romano, the famous Italian transfer specialist journalist, recently reported that Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku’s loan deal to Inter had been set. The reported deal suggested an €8m loan fee for the English club along with €4m in add-ons related to performances. Lukaku’s salary has been reduced by €4m to €8m for the new season. There is no buy option or obligation clause reported yet. The Belgian striker will go through the medical test in Inter soon.
Why Romelu Lukaku is leaving Chelsea?
The English Premier League club Chelsea bought Lukaku from Inter for around £100m in 2021 summer. It was the Belgian’s return to the Blues since his leaving the club in 2014 summer. Though he had some strong beginning in his Chelsea return, his playing focus for the club was hampered due to the dispute with the manager Thomas Tuchel during the middle of the 2021/22 season.
While Tuchel demanded Lukaku to press on his forwards, the Belgian felt it wasn’t his strength.
Though the dispute was reportedly resolved later, the recent desperation about this transfer shows a lot about the present relationship between the player and the manager and the club.
Tuchel has reportedly got support from the club as the new Chelsea owners have prioritized Lukaku’s transfer soon after the end of the last season. Meanwhile, according to the previous Goal report, Lukaku recently hired a lawyer especially to force the transfer.
It is a weird sound that Chelsea bought a player for around £100m and let him go on loan in the next season for a fee of €8m. There may be a possibility to see whether there is any chance to make the relationship better in the near future.
Despite the challenging 2021/22 season, Lukaku still ended as Chelsea’s leading goal-scorer with 15 goals in 44 games. This strong stat might help the English club to take more time before making any final decision on him.
However, the other possibility is presently more powerful, which is the English club is taking more time to release the Belgian footballer for a better bid. As Lukaku had a long dispute with the manager along with his fitness issues, the other clubs were also not very excited to put a large bid for him along with offering him a huge salary.
Romelu Lukaku’s recent image with the clubs
In an interview with HLN during the early 2021 summer, Lukaku claimed that he had a hard time at the late period of Manchester United, while he requested Inter to let him go before his Chelsea return.
The Belgian footballer has a history of regular controversial interviews, where he opened up about the disappointments of his existing clubs and consideration of leaving the clubs. In recent years, his club exit stories are not friendly examples in the football world.
