Tottenham launch contact for controversial Harry Kane replacement after Chelsea stand aside
Tottenham Hotspur are in touch for the transfer of Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea to fill the void left by Harry Kane, according to reports.
Kane completed a move to Bayern Munich last week after a lengthy association with Tottenham. It will be almost impossible for them to replace him with a striker of the same pedigree. Nevertheless, they need to find someone else to rely upon up front.
With that in mind, they have made contact for Lukaku, according to Alfredo Pedulla. The Chelsea-owned striker was on loan at Inter last season after a previous spell with the Serie A side, but things didn’t go quite as well on this occasion.
And things reached boiling point when Lukaku suddenly decided he wanted to sign for Inter’s rivals Juventus in his next move.
However, a swap deal that would have seen Chelsea pay to sign Dusan Vlahovic in return has stalled. With the Blues now backing away, they have to find another solution for the unwanted Lukaku.
Tottenham have been tentatively linked with the Belgium international in recent days. They were previously tipped to bring him in when his ex-Inter boss Antonio Conte was in charge, but it seems there is still some interest there now the Ange Postecoglou era is underway.
Pedulla claims the track for Tottenham to take Lukaku from Chelsea is now open, even if the finishing line is still fairly far away.
But there is an acknowledgement that Spurs need to add a more experienced attacker on top of Alejo Veliz, who recently arrived from Rosario Central.
Lukaku might be a suitable solution for Tottenham
At the age of 30 and sitting in the top 20 goalscorers of all time in the Premier League, Lukaku could fit the bill, despite his decline in fortunes over the past couple of years.
He came back to the Premier League for a second spell with Chelsea in 2021 after winning Serie A with Inter on the back of a second consecutive season with 30 goals or more across all competitions.
However, his tally halved as he only scored 15 times in the 2021-22 campaign for Chelsea. He subsequently was loaned back to Inter, where he finished last season with 14 goals.
Lukaku’s scoring record is more respectable than he sometimes gets credit for, though. The last time he failed to hit double figures of goals in a season was 2011-12, his first term with Chelsea. At the time, he was a teenager.
Now, Lukaku is the finished product, but there might be some scrutiny on him. He hasn’t broken the 20-league-goal barrier in England since his last campaign with Everton in 2016-17.
Tottenham will struggle to find a world-class marksman even after generating funds from the Kane sale, though. If it is feasible, a deal for Lukaku might be the closest they can get.
