- 22 hours ago
Milan ready to make Lukaku bid: Why Chelsea should say no
AC Milan would be ready to offer €25 million - £30 million for Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, according to reports in Italy.
Gazzetta has suggested that the Blues may receive an offer for their forward who has been on loan for the past three seasons.
It’s clear that Chelsea must get the player off their books as the relationship between Lukaku and the club has broken down.
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But while their potential bid seems reasonable, it would fall below Lukaku’s valuation.
Gianluca Di Marzio has stated that Chelsea will hold out for €40m, which is much more reasonable.
It also aligns with FootballTransfers’ Estimated Transfer Value algorithm (ETV) which shows that the Belgian’s value is €33.9m with a max of €42m.
Lukaku 's future is still to be decided. Milan are still in contact with Chelsea and talks continue, but Napoli are also interested.
Antonio Conte has maintained a relationship with Lukaku, with both winning the Serie A title together with Inter.
But this is linked to any potential exit of Victor Osimhen, who could leave south Italy in the summer.
However, at the moment there is no concrete interest in the striker.
Lukaku scored 21 goals in 47 games for Roma last season, once again excelling in Serie A. It’s thought that he would like to continue his time there and finally make it a permanent switch.
Last summer, Milan signed Christian Pulisic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek from Chelsea, and now Lukaku and Armando Broja appear to be on their radar this time around.
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Chelsea sales
It comes after Chelsea completed the sale of Ian Maatsen to Aston Villa for €44m, which will ease any worries with regards the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
Maatsen had been strongly linked with a move to Borussia Dortmund after he spent a successful second half of the season at the Bundesliga side, yet the move broke down over Chelsea’s transfer fee demand.
Chelsea have also released Hakim Ziyech to sign for Galatasaray, with the Morocco winger having spent much of the last 18 months pushing to leave Stamford Bridge.
The Turkish club, where he spent last season on loan, have signed him on a free transfer it has been announced. He has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €8.2m.