Inter Milan and Chelsea are nearing an agreement for Romelu Lukaku to return to the Italian club this summer.
That’s according to Gazzetta Dello Sport and Corriere Dello Sport, who both cover the situation today.
Gazzetta report today that Lukaku is ‘about to re-embrace’ his former club, with a move ‘mapped out’ after Inter and Chelsea moved closer to a deal.
Yesterday saw the two clubs holds a ‘telephone summit’ to discuss the deal, although it was delayed as new Chelsea owner Todd Boehly was unable to attend the call.
A new summit as been planned for today but could be delayed until Monday. Those are unlikely to be negotiations but more of a confirmation of where each party stands.
Inter made a first offer of a €5m fixed fee for a loan but know that will be rejected, and a figure of €10m is likely to be needed instead.
This is backed up by Corriere, who say an agreement is ‘in sight’ on the price of the loan, with a figure of €10-12m needed for it to happen.
Lukaku has made it clear he only wants Inter and his agent, Sebastien Ledure, will be a part of the next round of talks that could produce the necessary ‘white smoke’.
There is a growing optimism at Inter they can strike the required deal with Chelsea and the possibility of landing Lukaku as early as next week.
Gazzetta say there is a need for the deal to be done before June 30th so Inter can take advantage of the Italian Tax Decree, which will make the move much more palatable. That hurry, though, clashes with Chelsea’s plans.
They don’t have the current technical structure in place, so there is no operational manager in place to deal with Lukaku’s agent.
Chelsea have put Lukaku on the market, though, and opened up to an ‘onerous loan’, and the two clubs are working on those figures.
The €10m would be a base fee, with Inter initially starting at €5m plus €2m in bonuses and the Blues responding with a €20m fee. They’ve now both agreed to meet in the middle, and Corriere explain that would be in the €10-12m range.
There also needs to be an agreement on wages but Lukaku has already made it clear he will go down to €7.5-8m, further opening up the possibility of the deal taking place.
