Chelsea have responded to Inter Milan’s latest effort to keep Romelu Lukaku at the club by proposing a swap deal for midfielder Nico Barella.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who say the Blues ‘would trade him’ for Lukaku if the Italian side are keen on the idea. At the moment they are not.
The newspaper explains that it is not true that Chelsea have ‘remained cold’ in the face of Inter’s attempts to re-sign Lukaku for another year and add Kalidou Koulibaly to the deal on a similar loan deal.
On the contrary, the Blues have responded to this bid with a proposal of their own, suggesting an exchange between Lukaku and Barella.
On the fact of it that seems a quite ludicrous suggestion, but it has not been immediately rejected by Inter, who have simply postponed any negotiations until a new meeting can be held.
That doesn’t mean a deal is acceptable to them, particularly as they only want Lukaku back on loan and don’t want to really go down any other routes.
They know he wants to return to so are ‘convinced they will win’ in terms of negotiations with Chelsea, even if they have to drag on until the end of July.
The club’s ownership have made it clear they are working on a sell to buy basis from here on out, though, and any offer for Barella has to be considered. A swap is very unlikely to be accepted but Chelsea have proposed it anyway and it’s sure to come up again.
