Chelsea transfer hijacked by Euro giant, with move Pochettino would love being ‘seriously considered’
An anticipated move involving Inter Milan and Chelsea has been disrupted by a second Italian giant, though both sides are in danger of losing out to a third club, per reports.
What to do with Romelu Lukaku is a question that keeps arising at Stamford Bridge. The Belgian, 30, cost a whopping £97.5m when signed from Inter back in 2021.
However, Lukaku failed to live up to expectations and was duly loaned back to Inter for the 2022/23 campaign.
The long-held belief was Chelsea and Inter would come to some sort of agreement over another stint at the San Siro.
Chelsea would prefer to move Lukaku on permanently, while Inter have thus far preferred to explore the loan route once again. Inter finally bit the bullet and lodged a permanent offer for Lukaku, though the reported €30m bid was quickly rejected.
However, according to both Sky Sports and CBS Sports’ Ben Jacobs, Inter’s move is in danger of being hijacked by Juventus.
Indeed, Jacobs confirmed Juventus are “in the race”, while Sky took it a step further, revealing talks between Chelsea and the Turin club have taken place.
Juve may soon have a void at the tip of their attack if selling Dusan Vlahovic. Ironically enough, a move to Chelsea is believed to be taking shape.
Lukaku is a proven performer in Serie A and would thus represent a readymade – and more potent – upgrade on Vlahovic.
Sky added Inter won’t go down quietly, though it’s claimed their ability to lodge a suitable permanent bid and match Juventus hinges on selling players first.
On that front, quickly wrapping up the sale of Andre Onana to Man Utd could aid their cause. Man Utd have seen two bids for the 27-year-old goalkeeper rejected, though a third is likely to succeed.
Inter and Juventus could both lose out to Al Hilal
Adding another wrinkle to proceedings is the fact Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal are also hovering over Lukaku.
What’s more, Lukaku now appears to be warming to the idea of moving to the burgeoning Saudi Pro League.
Fabrizio Romano previously stated Lukaku’s preference was to remain in Europe. However, Jacobs claimed a change of heart is looming, with Lukaku ‘seriously considering’ the Al Hilal option.
Chelsea hope to generate around €45m (approx. £38.5m) for Lukaku which is a long way short of the £97.5m paid to Inter just two years ago.
However, given Lukaku is now the wrong side of 30 and is clearly unwanted in England, £38.5m would still represent a decent return all things considered.
Given the financial might of Saudi clubs like Al Hilal, it stands to reason they’ll be the ones offering the highest fee for Lukaku when push comes to shove.
