Lukaku turned down a potential move to Saudi club Al Hilal earlier this summer Credit: Getty Images/Craig Mercer
Chelsea stuck in a game on the brink of war for Romelu Lukaku's future, with the club and striker running out of options and the transfer window closing in on time.
Lukaku is training with the Chelsea under-21 team and hasn't even talked to the head coach Mauricio Pochettino, confirming his desire to leave Stamford Bridge after returning from a season on loan at Inter Milan.
Having seen Lukaku turn down a huge offer to join Saudi club Al Hilal at the start of the transfer window and effectively sabotage a potential return to Inter, Chelsea are currently still refusing to allow the 30-year-old to leave the club on loan. second summer in a row, which severely limited his options with just over a week left in the transfer window.
Local interest in Lukaku is negligible: Juventus are currently the only club actively interested in the Belgian, but the club refuses to sanction the deal unless they can remove striker Dusan Vlahovic from the payroll.
Chelsea have already turned down two offers from Juventus to pay Vlahovic's fee and send Lukaka in the opposite direction. The first offer was that Juve would receive around £42m and Lukaku for Vlahovic, while the second was £30m plus Lukaku.
Sources have poured cold water on Chelsea's alleged interest in Vlahovic, although that pessimism could be tested if Juventus cut the Serbian's fee further and find a solution to his high salary. Vlahovic is believed to be earning around £7m a year after taxes at Juventus, which should increase to around £10m a year after taxes from next season, significantly more than Chelsea would be ready for. receipt. pay him.
Lukaku's only hope of an early move from Chelsea currently lies with Juventus or Chelsea softening their stance unless the Blues reconsider their demands about not being allowed to go out on loan this summer.
Chelsea turned down two £23m and £26m offers from Inter before the Champions League finalists ended their desire to re-sign Lukaku permanently after learning he had opened the door to Serie A rivals — Juventus.
Lukaku remains adamant that he does not want to move to Saudi Arabia, where Chelsea hoped to send him after turning down a lucrative offer from Al-Hilal, who has since spent a fortune to sign Neymar from Paris Saint-Germain.
Saudi sources do not rule out that a Pro League club will show interest in Lukaku once the European transfer window closes, but there are serious doubts as to whether the player will even consider another offer from the country — especially since it will almost certainly be much lower than the one which he rejected from Al-Hilal.
Having agreed a £14m deal to sign goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic from MLS club New England Revolution, Chelsea's efforts in the final week of the window in terms of inbound business will be focused on trying to sign at least one more striker.
Karni Chukwuemeki's knee surgery will keep him out of action for about six weeks and only increased Chelsea's need for offensive reinforcements after the club missed out on Crystal Palace's Michael Olise.
The Blues did it. there was talk of sending players in the opposite direction to try and sign Brennan Johnson from Nottingham Forest. Tottenham Hotspur are also interested in the striker and are considering a «money plus player» offer.
Chelsea are also fans of Folarin Balogun. , but at the moment there is a big difference in the assessment of the 22-year-old striker between the Blues and Arsenal. Balogun shares an agent with Romeo Lavia, who was signed by Chelsea from Southampton last week.
Lewis Hall has completed his loan move from Chelsea to Newcastle United, which will become permanent at the end season.
Свежие комментарии