Missing out on the World Cup through injury, there were high hopes over at Inter that Chelsea’s Romelu Lukaku could get firing again after recovering.
Loaned from the Blues for the season, there has been a general understanding between the two clubs that if the Serie A side want to keep him for an extra year and pay the required amount, the Stamford Bridge residents wouldn’t stand in anyone’s way.
The problem for Chelsea is that the Belgian isn’t exactly impressing so far, and his dire performance against Monza this weekend has only added more doubts in the Inter camp.
Gazzetta dello Sport cover the situation in detail on Monday, saying that Lukaku’s outing on Saturday ‘threw everyone in Appiano into despair’, and while Simeone Inzaghi is currently focused on the next game, those above him have ‘an obligation to look further ahead’.
It’s pointed out that Inter and Chelsea have been in a ‘discussion’ regarding the striker since the initial deal was struck regarding the ‘possibility of renewing the loan for another season’.
However, while they seemed overly keen to get that nailed down last summer, things have changed, and ‘the next few months of the season will guide all reasoning’.
As things stand, Inter are in ‘no hurry’ to deal with Chelsea and ‘want to understand’ what is going to happen, because ‘this was clearly not the type of return that the club expected’ after spending €20m on a fee with the Blues and the player’s wages.
Right now, Lukaku has to prove why he should be kept by Inter, because we all know the Stamford Bridge side are desperate to see keep him off their wage bill, and we now have to see if the Italians ‘want to’ have him around next season.
However, if things stay the same, Gazzetta make it clear that ‘going on like this is of now use to anyone’.
