Chelsea could be about to finally cut ties with Romelu Lukaku following a tumultuous second spell at the club. AS Roma are reportedly keen on signing Lukaku on a permanent deal after impressing on loan with them this season.
The Belgian striker returned to Stamford Bridge in August 2021 for £97.5million after a couple of impressive campaigns with Inter Milan. However, things didn’t quite go to plan in west London.
In his first season back in the Premier League he only managed to find the back of the net 8 times in 26 top-flight appearances and quickly fell out of favour with former Blues boss Thomas Tuchel. The following season he was loaned back to Inter but was once again unable to find the kind of form that secured him a twelfth-place spot on the 2021 Ballon d’Or list.
In spite of this, Inter Milan offered to buy him back from Chelsea in the summer, however, the Italian giants abandoned the deal upon hearing that Lukaku was also holding talks with Juventus at the same time. The Juve move didn’t come off either and Chelsea were forced to loan Lukaku out again, this time to Roma.
Luckily for all parties involved, Lukaku has quickly found his feet at Stadio Olimpico scoring nine times in 12 games, including a late winner against Lecce on Sunday. According to Sky Sports, Roma are so impressed by him that they want to sign him permanently once his season-long loan from Chelsea ends in June.
The report goes on to add that Roma sporting director Tiago Pinto is believed to have negotiated an option to buy the player for around £30m in his loan deal – £67.5m less than what Chelsea paid for Lukaku two years ago.
The signing of Lukaku will go down as a massive financial flop for the former five-time Premier League champions. Chelsea have recouped some funds in loan fees, but they’ve also still been paying a large chunk of his £325,000 a week wages.
The Blues will be keen to get him off their books as quickly as possible with his transfer fee potentially set to rise up to £284.8m with various add-ons tied into the deal.
