Chelsea name Lukaku asking price as Boehly braced for RECORD loss

Robin Bairner

• 27 Jan 2024 09:07 GMT
• 2 min read

Chelsea will allow Romelu Lukaku to leave in the summer and have set an asking price that will see them record a record loss for a player.

Lukaku is presently away from Stamford Bridge on loan at Roma, where he has scored 15 goals in 26 matches.

Despite this return, Chelsea have had to slash their asking price for the 30-year-old after trying unsuccessfully to offload him last summer.

The Belgium international is under contract with the Blues until 2026 and the club cannot afford to have him lingering given that he is clearly surplus to requirements.

As such, the Daily Mail reports that Chelsea have put Lukaku up for sale for a fee of €43 million.

Given the Blues signed him for €113m, they stand to make a €70m loss on the player – an unprecedented figure for the Stamford Bridge side.

Chelsea have grown used to setting transfer records under new owners Todd Boehly and BlueCo, even breaking the world transfer record for a female when they signed Mayra Ramirez this week, but this is not the type of history they are eager to make.

Limiting the Lukaku damage

Chelsea have only signed seven players for €70m or more, with six of those stars currently on their books, including Lukaku and Kepa Arrizabalaga away on loan.

The only member of this exclusive club to have been sold is Kai Havertz, who departed for Arsenal in the summer for a fee of €75m – a loss of just €5m on the money they invested in him when he arrived from Leverkusen in 2020.

Lukaku’s loss is, therefore, in line to be utterly unprecedented in the history of the club and even at the price point they are asking for, Chelsea could struggle to sign the Belgian star.

Although a proven goal scorer, at €43m he would represent Roma’s most expensive signing ever, and at 30 years old would have to be considered a risk due to his age.

Lukaku has also torched his relations with Inter as he held secret negotiations with Juventus over a transfer to Turin last summer, so there is a limited pool of clubs where he can feasibly sign.

After rejecting a move to the Saudi Pro League last summer, though, he has suggested he could be open to a move to the Middle East in 2024.