Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is training alone waiting for a move to Napoli to be sorted and could use the Growth Decree to his advantage even after it was ended this year.
That’s according to Calciomercato, citing information from Calcio e Finanza too, who explain how Napoli have essentially planned and gotten around the issue of the Belgian’s wage demands.
First off, they explain that Lukaku is the first name on Napoli’s list at this point, having been explicitly requested by new coach Antonio Conte.
Any move depends on Victor Osimhen leaving but Conte is hopeful that the matter could be resolved in the next ten days, and he will have Lukaku available for the start of Serie A on Sunday 18th August.
Lukaku already has an agreement in place with Napoli on his contract, which would be worth €6m per year plus bonuses. He is keen to get out of Chelsea and reunite with Conte and is training alone to ensure he is fit and ready to go.
Napoli have been further encouraged to make the move as they can ‘take advantage’ of the tax breaks from the famous Italian Growth Decree, despite the fact it was ended this year.
Here they refer to Calcio e Finanza, who explain that while the decree has now been brought to an end it is still applicable for those who took advantage of it from 2019 to 2023.
Any players who did move under it were give a maximum of five tax years to benefit from the 50% reduction in tax but separate rules within it means it can be expanded to ten years.
There are certain provisions that allow for a further five tax years to be added if a player becomes the owner of at least one piece of real estate in Italy after moving or 12 months before or if they have at least one dependent child.
The Chelsea man has two dependent children and so, even with the Growth Decree now ended Napoli believe it can be extended for another five years from 2025 onwards.
Thus, they will be able to pay the striker’s high wage demands and get over that particular hurdle, further paving the way for him to arrive this summer.
