Sometimes, deals come out of absolutely nowhere and catch us by surprise.
That’s what happened on Thursday with Newcastle’s apparent acquisition of Jordan Lukaku, brother of Manchester United Romelu.
The left-back has played a bit-part role in Simone Inzaghi’s plans at Lazio since returning from a knee ligament injury (seven league appearances, one start), and there might be some reasoning behind the deal.
According to Gianluca di Marzio, Lukaku is being ‘transferred’ to St James’ Park on loan with a view to buy at the end of the season.
The Italian journalist claims the deal is done, and when he says that, that tends to be the case.
Since the start of the transfer window, Lazio have been trying to bring in Davide Zappacosta from Chelsea, but one of the conditions to help fund it was if Riza Durmisi’s deal to Celta Vigo (a loan with a view to buy ay €7m) went through.
That particular move, however, appears to have died down over the past few days, and it seems they’ve now decided to cash in on another one of their fullbacks instead.
Does this mean we might see a resurgence in the Zappacosta deal? We’ll have to wait and see, but it appears Jordan Lukaku will be playing in the same league as his brother for the second half of the current season.
Newcastle will now shelve their interest in Antonio Barreca, and Rafael Benitez can stop his fullback search.
