Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku is set to miss returning to pre-season training with the Blues as he reportedly waits to find out if his potential move to Inter Milan materialises.
That’s according to The Telegraph, who claim that the Belgian striker had been given a return date of Wednesday but will not return regardless of whether Chelsea accept or reject Inter Milan’s new offer.
The offer in question, according to the report, falls short of Chelsea’s £40 million valuation. The new offer is said to be around £25 million plus a further £10 million in bonuses.
Lukaku spent last season on loan at Inter Milan, following his disastrous return to Stamford Bridge for an eye-watering £97 million.
The £325,000-a-week (The London Evening Standard) striker was influential as the Italian side reached the UEFA Champions League final but fell at the final hurdle, losing 1-0 to Manchester City.
Lukaku had a big chance to equalise in that final but somehow didn’t convert his big chance late on, nevertheless, Inter want the Belgian back at the San Siro.
Lukaku determined to return to Inter from Chelsea
Mauricio Pochettino, Chelsea’s new head coach, was adamant in his desire for Lukaku to return to Cobham for pre-season training, according to the report. Despite this, the forward is determined to complete the move back to Italy.
Despite reports yesterday linking the forward with a move to Juventus, in a potential swap with Dusan Vlahovic moving to Stamford Bridge, it is said the offer of Turin doesn’t appeal to the 30-year-old forward.
There was also an offer on the table from Saudi Arabia but the forward remains adamant he wants to carry on in Europe.
£40 million would represent a huge loss for Chelsea after they spent over double that amount to bring him into the club. This just highlights the mistakes that have been made by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital so far since they took over last year.
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