Bye, Bye Haaland? Chelsea Makes $120 Million Bid for Inter Striker Romelu Lukaku

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Chelsea wants Romelu Lukaku back after hearing Dortmund’s firm position regarding star striker Erling Haaland. The Champions League winners made a bid worth $120 million for Lukaku, with Spanish defender Marcos Alonso included in the deal. Inter turned down the transfer attempt.

Lukaku - Inter
Romelu Lukaku enjoyed a great campaign at Inter, contributing 24 goals and 11 assists during the team’s first title run since 2010. (Image: Twitter/Serie A)

The Italian giants believe Lukaku will be impossible to replace. Even though the team went through a transformation after their domestic triumph this year, the board believes the 28-year-old Belgian striker is the engine to keep the team performing at its best.

Lukaku played a key role in Inter’s first winning campaign in Serie A since 2010, scoring 30 goals across all competitions and assisting another 10. Romelu enjoyed a consistent Euro 2020 with the Belgium team, netting four times as his national side advanced to the quarterfinals, where they were eliminated by future champions Italy.

Lukaku still has three seasons left in his contract at Inter at $9 million per year. Chelsea is expected to make another, improved bid to sign Lukaku, who they let go for $40 million in 2014. Inter saw manager Antonio Conte leave, with defender Achraf Hakimi moving to PSG earlier this summer.

The club’s Chinese owners changed their financial approach in the past few months and might also allow Argentinean forward Lautaro Martinez to move by the end of the transfer period. Sources close to Lukaku claim the Serie A MVP  is uncertain of his future in the light of the recent changes at the club.

Lukaku, a complicated affair with the Premier League

Chelsea brought Lukaku to Stamford Bridge from Anderlecht in 2011 for less than $14 million. He was soon offloaded to WBA, then Everton. The Liverpool-based club finally made a decisive move on him, signing him on a transfer in 2014.

At Chelsea, Lukaku was limited to just 15 games, many as a substitute. He couldn’t score in the Chelsea shirt before his loan to Everton was made permanent. In 2017, Manchester United paid $125 million (bonuses included) to have him at Old Trafford before, surprisingly, letting him go to Inter for $95 million just two years later. In his two seasons at the Meazza, Lukaku scored an impressive 64 goals in just 95 games across all competitions.

Bookies now have his comeback to Chelsea at +175, slashed from +500 last week. Tottenham is at +800, with Manchester City at +1700. A surprise transfer to Real Madrid currently stands at +1900, while moves to Bayern or PSG are at +2400.

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