It appears that after a lot of swinging from one side to the other, Inter Milan have finally made a decision about Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku.
This is what Gazzetta dello Sport write on Monday, as the first article in their print edition is about the Belgian and his future in Italy.
Unable to find joy at Chelsea under Thomas Tuchel, Lukaku was sent back to Inter on loan a year after his big return to Stamford Bridge, but the season has not gone to plan.
It’s been more of an expensive mistake for the Serie A side than the ‘spend money to make money’ idea they were first hoping for, as the striker has struggled to find the back of the net and been often injured.
That’s why they’ve decided their future will be ‘without Romelu Lukaku’, and the forward ‘will return to Chelsea’ at the end of the loan.
Not only that, but they have ‘no intention of negotiating another one’, which was something the two sides had agreed on doing when they struck the initial deal last summer.
This is due to the fact his performances have not matched the €20m, split between loan fee and wages, spent, and they know that another type an investment (read another player) could be more valuable in the long run.
‘The decision is made’ as far as the Italian club are concerned, and only a truly ‘extraordinary season finale from the Belgian could upset the plans’; something there are no signs of today.
There’s also a need to lower the wage budget, which currently totals €132m/year gross, and getting rid of the Chelsea man’s salary will go a long way towards doing that.
Players such as Marcus Thuram, Roberto Firmino and Mateo Retegui are all being looked at to fill the void, while Lois Openda is a new name to appear on the list of potential targets for Inter.
As for Chelsea in all this, they’ll have a Lukaku sized headache to deal with in the summer.
