Romelu Lukaku is reportedly close to signing a loan deal with Roma, where he will take a significant pay cut, according to talkSPORT.
The Belgian international has been left out of Chelsea’s squad this year and hasn’t even been assigned a jersey number. It follows his admission to the Blues that he is desperate to leave but has been unable to sign with either Juventus or Inter Milan, who were both interested in a deal.
Lukaku is set to join AS Roma on loan as part of a reunion with Jose Mourinho after the Italian club stepped up. But in order to force a transfer to the Italian city, the striker is willing to accept a significant salary cut on his £325,000-per-week contract.
Lukaku is willing to sign a £7m contract with Roma, which is a huge decrease on his current £17m contract at Chelsea.
Juventus were also ready to offer the former Manchester United star a £12m salary. while Saudi Arabian clubs were keen on snapping him up as well on what would have been a lucrative contract.
But Lukaku has decided against moving to the Gulf State while talks with Juve broke down.
Mourinho has been a major force for the wantaway star, speaking directly to Lukaku and telling him he wants to bring the best out of him. The two worked together twice – first in Lukaku’s first stint at Chelsea where he was largely left on the sidelines.
And second at United, where his debut season went well before the second campaign went pear-shaped.
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Nevertheless, talks have been positive and there are just minor details to sort out with Chelsea.
From the Blues’ point of view, Lukaku’s return for £97m in 2021 from Inter Milan has gone awfully.
The 30-year-old arrived to a huge fanfare as the answer to the club’s woes up front but failed to impress, scoring eight Premier League goals.
He fell out with then-manager Thomas Tuchel and was loaned back to Inter Milan the following summer.
But while the Nerazzurri wanted to bring him in again, he snubbed Inter to try and force a move to Juventus, which also failed. It saw him burn his bridges at both Serie A clubs before Roma stepped up and made the forward an offer.
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