Thursday has seen countless reports from Italy that Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea is just a matter of time.
There’s even been claims the deal could be agreed on Friday, with the Belgium international then set to finalise his own side of the deal with the Blues. Inter Milan’s current financial situation sees them seriously considering selling their star, despite an inevitable backlash from supporters.
However, Gazzetta dello Sport now report doubts are creeping in for Inter president Steven Zhang. There’s a ‘pause for reflection’ as the club boss decides what to do, having seen the reaction to the potential sale.
Zhang had ‘given the order’ to negotiate Lukaku’s move to Chelsea, but is now ‘thinking about what to do’. Gazzetta say he wants to ‘carefully evaluate the pros and cons’, although they also point out this could be a tactic to ‘flush out’ Chelsea and presumably encourage a bigger offer from the Premier League club.
There’s a worry that without Lukaku, Inter will falter in both Serie A and the Champions League, and if they then fail to qualify for the latter that would be a big financial blow.
The newspaper states: ‘Making money by dismantling the Italian champion squad piece by piece would be suicidal.’
Of course, as Gazzetta suggest, there’s a chance this ‘pause’ is to encourage Chelsea to put their bigger offer in quickly, and there’s also the possibility Zhang wants Inter fans to believe this is a situation which isn’t easy for him.
Alternatively, Zhang may well be bending to the pressure of the Inter fanbase, and officials at the club, who are dismayed at the prospect of losing Romelu Lukaku.
