Chelsea’s bid to bring Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge is being personally led by owner Roman Abramovich, according to reports.
The Belgian forward left the club for Everton in 2014 after failing to break through into the first team, and has since proven himself as one of the best strikers in world football after moving on to Manchester United and Inter Milan.
Lukaku, who scored 30 goals in all competitions this season to help the Italian club claim their first Scudetto in nine years, is now said to be a huge target for the Blues this summer after growing frustrated with the mis-firing Timo Werner – who joined for £53million last year.
Russian billionaire Abramovich believes Lukaku would take Chelsea to the next level after falling away from the title picture this term, according to Eurosport, and is at the forefront of discussions with Inter.
While Chelsea are in talks over a possible deal for Lukaku, Manchester City could stand in their way, the report adds – with Lukaku’s camp indicating that Pep Guardiola’s men would be able to offer higher wages.
City will be in the market for a new striker this summer having lost Sergio Aguero on a free transfer to Barcelona and seeing Gabriel Jesus fail to stake a claim as their first choice frontman.
Inter are currently without a manager after Antonio Conte left the San Siro, but they are likely to appoint outgoing Lazio boss Simone Inzaghi and he is keen to keep a hold of the Belgian, it adds.
Lukaku is ‘loving’ life at Inter but would be willing to depart given the club’s financial difficulties, Eurosport claims, and is keen on a Premier League return.
He was brought to Chelsea in 2011 after bursting onto the scene at Belgian outfit Anderlecht, but was loaned out to West Brom and Everton – with a handful of Blues managers not seeing him as ready for first team action.
Lukaku only played ten times for the club – failing to score a goal – and eventually left in a £28million permanent deal to Everton in 2014. After smashing in 87 goals for the Toffees in three seasons, he got a dream move to Manchester United in 2018.
Despite joining for an eye-watering £75m, he struggled for consistency at Old Trafford, although he still managed 42 strikes in 96 games. He was sold to Inter for roughly the same fee United paid at the start of the 2019-20 campaign, and has since netted 64 times.
Should he opt to stay put, Chelsea and City will turn their attentions elsewhere – with both club’s targeting Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.
On Tuesday reports emerged that Chelsea were interested in returning to the table for Lukaku, with the club putting him and Haaland at the top of their wishlist.
Blues boss Thomas Tuchel will keep faith in Werner next year but the German needs help contributing towards the team’s goal tally, and Olivier Giroud is widely expected to leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the month.
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