Inter 'will do their best' to seal Lukaku transfer as Chelsea name asking price

Suraj Radia

• 12 Jul 2023 18:29 BST
• 2 min read

Inter manager Simone Inzaghi has revealed the club will do ‘their best’ to sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea this summer after admitting the Italian side would like to bring him back to the San Siro.

Lukaku spent last season on loan at Inter, having left them for Chelsea the previous year for £99.5 million and the Belgian is understood to be keen to return to the Italian side once again.

New Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has insisted he is willing to give Lukaku a chance at the club, although the Blues are thought to be seeking a fee of £40m for the 30-year-old and will give him extra time away before returning to pre-season training in order to resolve his future.

RETURN: Pochettino in u-turn over Lukaku Chelsea future

Teams from Saudi Arabia are reportedly willing to match Chelsea’s asking price, however Lukaku is understood to prefer to stay in Europe despite a tempting deal from Al-Hilal on the table offering wages in excess of £70m across three years.

Lukaku had a mixed spell with Inter last season, scoring 10 goals in 25 Serie A games, but Inzaghi is still desperate to bring the striker back to the club, having seen Edin Dzeko leave this summer.

“Lukaku is Chelsea player now. We all know how crucial he has been for us,” Inzaghi said. “I did my best to bring him back last summer, we’d like to re-sign Romelu also this summer. We’ll do our best to make it happen.”

Chelsea could push Lukaku sale to fund transfer activity

Chelsea have been in the market for a striker this summer and signed Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal for a fee of more than £30m earlier this month.

Christopher Nkunku has also arrived from Leipzig but the French forward is considered more of a secondary striker rather than an out and out number nine, while Armando Broja is back in training after a knee injury he picked up in December.

Chelsea are still fighting financial fair play constraints despite bringing in more than £200m in sales this summer, meaning Lukaku could be sold in order to fund transfers for the likes of Rayan Cherki and Moises Caicedo.

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Inter are expected to return with an offer of £25m plus bonuses which would take the total package to £35m for Lukaku but this would still fall short of Chelsea’s valuation, however talks over a resolution will likely continue into next week.