- 22 hours ago
Back to Chelsea: Why flop Lukaku won’t stay at Inter
Carlo Garganese
- Updated: 23 May 2023 09:00 CDT
- 3 min read
It is looking increasingly likely that Romelu Lukaku won’t stay at Inter next season, with Chelsea bracing themselves for a return of their Belgian flop.
Lukaku is currently spending the 2022-23 season on loan with the Nerazzurri.
It was believed that Inter would look to extend Lukaku’s loan for another year due to the financial difficulty of re-signing him outright.
World Cup 2022: Teams, fixtures, results, favourites
However, there are new FIFA rules that have come into force that forbid multiple year loan deals.
Clubs can now only loan players for one season maximum after which they must either make the decision to sign the player permanently or return him.
What is the new transfer loan rule?
The law states: “The minimum period of a Temporary Transfer shall be the period between two consecutive Transfer Windows and the period of a Temporary Transfer shall not extend beyond 30 June next after it was entered into."
This makes a return to Chelsea very likely next summer.
Lukaku rejoined Chelsea from Inter in a €115 million transfer in the summer of 2021.
However, he endured a disastrous season, scoring just eight goals and falling out publicly with manager Thomas Tuchel.
He was sent back to Inter on loan, but has struggled for fitness this campaign.
Lukaku has played just 256 minutes of club football this season, starting three games and appearing in only five matches in total. He has scored two goals this campaign.
He went into the World Cup unfit, scoring no goals and missing a host of big chances in the 0-0 draw with Croatia which eliminated Belgium from the group stages.
Lukaku too costly
Lukaku is on a huge salary and Chelsea stand to make a massive loss on the player unless they sell for more than what will be his amortised value of over €60m next summer.
There is no chance of Inter getting even close to this transfer fee or his salary given the club’s well-documented financial problems.
Inter need to make a €60m profit in the transfer market by the end of the financial year at the end of June 2023.
And given Lukaku’s fitness issues and the fact he turns 30 in a few months, Inter are even less likely to to spend big even if they do find the cash required.
A return to Chelsea beckons.
