Chelsea have rejected the ‘first informal offer’ from Inter Milan for striker Romelu Lukaku, warning intermediaries that they need more to sanction a deal.
That’s according to Calciomercato, who cover the transfer today amid numerous reports of Inter being willing to sign the Belgian permanently.
Earlier today we covered reports from both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport that stated Inter had decided to make their move for Lukaku and bring him back to the club, perhaps even on a permanent basis.
Gazzetta made it clear that Belgian lawyer Sébastien Ledure, who is acting as Lukaku’s agent, was also working as an intermediary between Chelsea and Inter.
CM pick up on that and explain that Ledure ‘has been a bit of a shuttle’ between London and Milan in recent days in an attempt to ‘limit the distances’ between the two parties as much as possible.
He had proposed an ‘informal offer’ on Inter’s behalf, with the Italian side making it known that they are ‘ready to present’ an offer worth €30m for a definitive transfer. That is a sum Chelsea ‘considers insufficient’, instead valuing Lukaku at €45m.
There is therefore a €15m difference between the two clubs at this moment in time but those in charge at Villa della Liberazione are aware they need to ‘present themselves officially’ in the next few days.
That will, strangely, be a ‘fax containing a more substantial proposal’ for Chelsea to mull over, valued at around €35m. Inter’s belief is that a deal can be closed at ‘just under €40m’.
For now, there is just a lot of intermediation work being undertaken by Ledure, who appears to be key to getting the two sides to close a deal as soon as possible.
