Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is working to convince Romelu Lukaku to reunite with him should he leave Chelsea this summer.
That’s according to Corriere Dello Sport, who detail the Italian’s efforts to sign the Belgian striker for a second time.
Lukaku is widely expected to leave Chelsea this summer after a miserable year back at the club following his move from Inter Milan last summer.
A return to the Italian club appears to be the most likely outcome, but the finances are difficult for them, and it seems Tottenham, via Conte, are trying to take advantage of that.
Corriere explain that Conte is ‘between Lukaku and Inter’, with his inclusion in the battle complicating things for the Serie A side.
Conte has already taken Ivan Perisic from the club and is trying to sign Alessandro Bastoni, who, for the moment, in resisting his efforts, and now he wants to come between them and Lukaku as well.
The newspaper explains this is not out of any desire for revenge or anything of that nature; it’s simply a matter of Lukaku having been Conte’s ‘number one target’ to reinforce his attack for some time.
He wants to build a team to challenge for the Premier League and compete in the Champions League and considers Lukaku as a ‘pivotal player’ for this.
The Italian believes he could form a deadly partnership with Harry Kane and likes the idea of two physical forwards in his team who can make ‘war on every high ball’.
His efforts have come as bad news for Inter, who were hopeful of negotiating a deal with Chelsea to take Lukaku back to Italy this summer.
Lukaku has made it clear he would like to return to Milan after two unforgettable seasons at the club, and that had sparked the flame of hope for Simone Inzaghi’s side.
Indeed, the Belgian has been battling with Chelsea to get them to accept a one-year free loan and wants it done before June 30th so Inter can use the Growth Decree to pay less taxes and thus be able to offer the striker bigger wages.
Lukaku is even ready to ‘go in pressure’ on Thomas Tuchel to force a deal to happen, but Conte has ‘come out of the woodwork’ to complicate the matter.
Indeed, Corriere believe it would be difficult for Lukaku to say no to his former manager and, unlike Inter, Tottenham ‘have the money to close the deal’.
Chelsea would have to think twice about selling to a direct rival, but the deal would leave their bank account ‘inflated’, and they would then be able to go in search of a replacement for the Belgian.
That puts Tottenham in an ‘advantageous position’ over Inter, who could be set to miss out after Conte put himself into the fight.
