With Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Chelsea on the verge of being official, the mood in Italy is one of resignation, as everyone is already thinking about the next step.
After all, the Belgian won’t be easy to replace, especially with most of the funds going directly in the club’s coffers to help with the bank balance.
Despite promising that no big players would leave following the sale of Achraf Hakimi, those in charge of Inter had the task of deciding what to do with a €115m offer from Chelsea for the striker, and they eventually caved in.
Whether that was following some pressure from the owners remains to be seen, and we’re sure we’ll get details soon enough, but for a former Inter player and club legend, Gianluca Pagliuca, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, the choice was simple.
He said: “I would never have expected Lukaku to say goodbye, but when a concrete proposal of €115m arrives for a player, only a madman would refuse”.
By saying that, Pagliuca tries to absolve some of the blame placed on Inter for their decision to let the player go to Chelsea, and he feels it’s the striker himself who fans of the Serie A side should be mad at.
He added: “He spoke perhaps a little too much before. We heard many proclamations from the Belgian about staying in Milan. As soon as a team arrived to double his salary, the reaction was clear: ‘Goodbye and thanks’. In a sense, fans should be more after him than the team. I repeat, you can’t refuse €115m”.
While Lukaku’s transfer to Stamford Bridge is not done yet, it is expected to be so in the next few days, as the player has already started his travels from Italy to England ahead of the standard medicals.
