Chelsea have reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Romelu Lukaku to sell the forgotten striker for £38m. Lukaku is not in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for next season despite a positive loan to Roma.
The experienced Belgian has scored 21 goals in all competitions for the Italian side. But as one of the club’s most valuable excluded players, Lukaku is more likely to be sold this summer as Chelsea look to get involved in the Premier League’s sustainability and profit issues.
Chelsea paid a record £97. 5m to sign Lukaku in 2021. That decision didn’t work out, however, as the 31-year-old scored just eight goals in 26 appearances in his only campaign at Stamford Bridge since this move.
He was then loaned to Inter Milan and Roma. The former Manchester United striker was left out of Chelsea’s pre-season squad as he searched for an exit, highlighting Pochettino’s reluctance to rejoin his young first team.
But Lukaku may inadvertently prove vital for Pochettino this summer. A £38 million payment for the move (which, according to journalist Ben Jacobs, is the verbally agreed amount for which Lukaku will leave this summer) could be reinvested in the move’s budget to make additional payments. to the Argentine national team. Despite spending more than £1bn since the BlueCo consortium bought the club in 2022, Chelsea may have a busy summer ahead of them.
Lukaku would have been keen to a large extent in Saudi Arabia, where the Blues sold several players last summer. But the Belgian vice-captain has not indicated his preference to play in the Saudi Pro League.
Asked about his long run after shining in an overseas friendly against England in March, Lukaku bluntly told Sky Sports: “I don’t know. You’ll have to ask Chelsea what they should do. “
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Chelsea’s only recognised senior centre-forward, Nicolas Jackson, struggled to remain consistent in his first season in the Premier League last season. Jackson, the 22-year-old who signed from Villarreal on a £30m contract, still scored 14 times.
Some Blues enthusiasts might have wanted Lukaku’s experience guiding Jackson through a difficult first campaign. But Chelsea are expected to look elsewhere for a new No. 9 this summer, and Pochettino is not looking for Lukaku interested.
The west Londoners have been linked with Napoli striker Victor Osimhen. However, the Nigerian will be reasonable and is attracting interest from other big European clubs.
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