We are now getting to the point where the Romelu Lukaku saga needs to end one way or another, both for Chelsea’s and Inter Milan’s sake.
This is something all parties are trying to sort out, but there is still some distance between the demand at Stamford Bridge and what the San Siro side are willing to offer.
We won’t go into too much detail in that regard, because it’s been well covered already, but Gazzetta dello Sport do make one thing clear, which is that Lukaku has made a decision.
It’s already been said that he won’t be turning up on Wednesday (today) to kick off the pre-season at Cobham, mostly because he doesn’t see the point of travelling to then hopefully leave again a few days later.
At this point, the Belgium international ‘does not intend to change his position’, and he ‘won’t play for Chelsea next year’.
His lawyer, Sébastien Ledure, discovered in a phone call with the Blues that their stance of asking for €40m is ‘still too rigid’, despite Inter willing to ‘break through to €30m’ with bonuses taking it to €35m.
Over at Corriere dello Sport, it’s made clear that Chelsea gave Lukaku five extra days of rest, and while that could be because he played in the international games after the season, but it’s also likely to give everyone time to sort out what comes next.
The newspaper state that ‘between now and next weekend’, his future can be decided, which is something the Belgian wants, but also what the Blues are hoping for, as they want to ‘close the case’.
They state that there is a ‘maximum of five days’ to sort it all out, and if it hasn’t been done by then, he’ll need to turn up at London against his will.
Either that, or he goes on strike, really.
