Chelsea RESTART talks to sell Romelu Lukaku
Carlo Garganese
- 26 Jul 2023 13:05 BST
- 3 min read
Juventus will reopen talks with Chelsea this week in order to sign Romelu Lukaku.
That is according to Calciomercato.com, which reports that Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli will travel to London in the coming days.
Once there, Giuntoli will sit down with his Chelsea counterparts to try and thrash out a deal for Lukaku.
READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals
Lukaku had been expected to return to Inter for a third time ahead of next season, having spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan from Chelsea.
However, the Nerazzurri suddenly stopped negotiations after being angered by Lukaku’s conduct on Friday when he held talks with Juventus behind their back.
As a result, Inter withdrew their transfer offer, leaving Juventus a free path to sign Lukaku.
But it was then reported that Juventus had stalled their talks with Chelsea as they needed to sell Dusan Vlahovic first in order to raise funds for Lukaku.
READ MORE: Saudi Pro League summer transfers 2023: All the Done Deals
But Calciomercato reports that Juventus will go ahead and attempt to sign Lukaku on loan with an obligation of around €40m, regardless of whether Vlahovic has been sold yet.
Al-Hilal have also offered Romelu Lukaku an astronomical new salary offer in order to join the club.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Lukaku has been presented with a salary package worth €40m per season. The contract is likely to be for three years, which would mean Lukaku earning €120m in total on wages.
However, Lukaku has been adamant that he does not want to move to Saudi Arabia this summer.
A transfer to Juventus is still considered likely by most transfer experts.
Personal terms between Lukaku and Juventus are not expected to be a problem.
Lukaku’s 2022-23 season
Lukaku returned to Inter last summer on a one-year loan from Chelsea.
The 30-year-old has now returned to Stamford Bridge until he makes a permanent transfer this summer.
Lukaku finished the past season strongly and was in fantastic form after the March international break - scoring nine goals in April and May.
Lukaku came on as a substitute in Inter’s 1-0 defeat to Man City in the Champions League final in Istanbul. The ex-Man Utd striker missed a big chance to equalise in the closing minutes.
