REVEALED: Chelsea's BRUTAL Lukaku treatment amid uncertain future
Tom Weber
- Updated: 22 Aug 2023 15:37 BST
- 3 min read
Chelsea are still struggling to offload Romelu Lukaku and time for a transfer is running out.
The Belgian looked dead set to depart Stamford Bridge this summer, but with just a little over a week to go in the transfer window, he is still no closer to leaving than he was when the window opened.
Having rejected a lucrative offer from Al-Hilal and blowing his chance of rejoining Inter by negotiating with hated rivals Juventus, Lukaku's future is looking uncertain, to put it mildly.
Though Juventus are still keen on the 30-year-old - they are the only club with a concrete interest in him - talks between the Bianconeri and Chelsea are currently on standby as the latter are unwilling to agree to the swap deal plus cash proposal Juve are offering that would see Dusan Vlahovic go the other way.
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Juventus have shown some willingness to lower their Vlahovic asking price, but it has thus far not been enough to tempt Chelsea into putting money on the table. Lukaku, meanwhile, has been completely exiled from a Chelsea squad in desperate need of attacking reinforcements.
No contact with the first team
The Telegraph has revealed that Lukaku is currently training with Chelsea's U21 squad and that he has not even spoken to new head coach Mauricio Pochettino yet. It is understandable that Chelsea want to get a €113 million flop off the books, but are they right to treat the Belgian that way?
After all, he could still be useful right now given their shortage of attacking options. Their lack of firepower showed in their 3-1 loss to West Ham and even if Lukaku is not going to singlehandedly solve their issues, having the ability to use him if need be can't be a bad thing.
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At this moment in time, it looks unlikely that they will manage to offload Lukaku, so completely antagonising him may not be the best idea.
