Chelsea flop reveals club he wants to join next season

Carlo Garganese

• 3 Apr 2024 10:50 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea flop Romelu Lukaku wants to make his loan move at Roma permanent at the end of the season.

That is according to Gazzetta dello Sport, who report that not only does Lukaku have no intention of returning to Stamford Bridge but that he has his heart set on staying in Rome for good.

Lukaku is currently on a one-year loan at the Stadio Olimpico from the Blues.

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However, the chances of Roma keeping Lukaku appear slim right now.

The Belgian has an unofficial release clause of €40 million which will be accepted by Chelsea next summer.

This is a fee that Roma can neither afford nor can pay without falling foul of FFP regulations.

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Lukaku’s huge salary of €7.5m per season is also out of reach for Roma.

Furthermore, after a bright start to his Roma career, Lukaku has noticeably dipped in the second half of the campaign and he has scored just three goals in the last two and a half months under caretaker manager Daniele De Rossi.

Roma are not prepared to break the bank for a player who will turn 31 by the end of the season.

However, Gazzetta adds that Roma would be open to negotiating a new loan deal with Chelsea.

Before they can do that, though, Roma must qualify for the Champions League. They are currently fifth with eight games to go.

Fifth place could claim a spot in the new Champions League as Serie A is likely to gain an extra place this season due to its excellent coefficient.

Lukaku on loan at Roma

Lukaku is currently spending a second season on loan away from Chelsea, this time at Roma after spending the 2022-23 campaign back at Inter.

The 30-year-old had rejoined Chelsea from Inter in the summer of 2021 for a then-club record transfer fee of €115m.

But he was a disaster during the 2021-22 campaign, falling out with manager Thomas Tuchel, criticising the club publicly and performing poorly on the pitch.

Since then Chelsea have decided Lukaku won’t play for the club again, a sentiment shared by the Belgian.

He spent the 2022-23 campaign back at Inter, and is now on a season-long loan at Roma.