Antonio Conte could do Chelsea a massive favour this summer and look to take Romelu Lukaku to whatever club he ends up at.
That’s according to Tuttosport, who say Conte could be important to deciphering the Belgian’s future once he returns from Roma.
A report earlier this week indicated that if Conte were to go back to Chelsea, after reportedly offering them his services should Mauricio Pochettino be sacked this summer, then Lukaku could be set to stay.
That explained that he’d love to keep the striker as part of his squad if he turned up for a second spell in charge of the Blues.
Tuttosport go in the opposite direction, though, explaining that Conte could still be key but in Lukaku’s future away from Stamford Bridge.
They explain that Lukaku’s future is still to be written, with it increasingly away from Roma thanks to the money involved to keep him.
The original loan deal was only an expensive one without an option to make it permanent but his contract with the Blues includes a clause for him to leave for £37m.
Roma cannot afford that and need to qualify for the Champions League to even consider trying to get a deal done.
Enter Conte, who is on the market this summer and looking for work and could play his role. He’s a big fan of the striker and ‘could decide to take him with him’ wherever he ends up.
That would be a major boost for Chelsea, who may find it difficult to find suitors for the striker in Europe given the sums involved to get him.
There is always the Saudi Arabia option, which Lukaku has seemingly warmed to in recent months after rejecting it last year, but first it remains to be seen what Conte does and if he wants the striker back again wherever he ends up.