This summer is likely to prove hugely important for Romelu Lukaku’s career, with the Chelsea star due back for pre-season training with the west Londoners in a few days time.
The Belgian, on loan at Inter Milan throughout the 2022/23 season, has to come to an accord with the Blues so that everyone can move on.
New manager, Mauricio Pochettino, was crystal clear when asked about the centre-forward during his press conference on Friday.
“The first thing players are doing is to come to my office and say hello. That's what I expect if he's still a Chelsea player."
Mauricio Pochettino addresses the Romelu Lukaku situation ? pic.twitter.com/YFpGPVuBuR
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) July 7, 2023
Though Lukaku might not see his future at Stamford Bridge, he will need to report back to the club in any event. How things move on from that point will be seen in due course.
Transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano, writing in his exclusive CaughtOffside Substack, believes a resolution won’t be far away for the striker.
‘I think Lukaku will leave Chelsea this summer and this is very clear. Inter will approach Chelsea again once they sell Onana to continue talks and negotiations,’ he noted.
‘If they can’t agree a fee in the next days, other clubs can try to enter the race but Inter remain the big favourites and new talks are scheduled.’
There’s little point in Pochettino keeping unhappy players at the club, and though the Mason Mount situation pre-dated his arrival, it was clear that there was no turning back for the new Man United signing.
The same applies to Lukaku. If he genuinely has no interest in being at Chelsea, then it’s incumbent upon Pochettino and the board to find a quick solution to suit all parties.
At present, that would appear to be agreeing a deal with Inter to see the player move permanently to the Serie A outfit.