Lukaku set for Pochettino talks after Chelsea transfer collapse

16 July 2023 , 17:43

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Romelu Lukaku is desperate to join Inter Milan (Image: Joosep Martinson/UEFA via Getty Images)

Romelu Lukaku is expected to meet with Mauricio Pochettino on Monday after being ordered to return to Chelsea’s training base.

Lukaku has been training by himself in Turkey while his representatives try to secure a transfer back to Inter Milan. The Belgian striker spent last season on loan with Inter and is desperate to seal a permanent move back to the club which sold him to Chelsea for £97.5million in 2021.

Chelsea are willing to sell Lukaku, but have rejected two bids from Inter so far because their £40m valuation has not been met yet. The Daily Mail now reports that Inter were willing to up their offer to £30m plus add-ons after Juventus joined the bidding with an offer of £32m plus £2m earlier in the week.

But Lukaku’s future now hangs in the balance because Inter have threatened to pull out of negotiations because they are angry that Juve have been allowed to come to the table. The breakdown in talks has led Chelsea to change their approach and ask Lukaku to return to Cobham for training.

Lukaku has been called back to the fold, but he still does not remain in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans for the 2023/24 season. He will therefore not fly to the United States with his team-mates for the club’s pre-season tour.

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Chelsea first play Wrexham in North Carolina on Wednesday, but Lukaku will train alone at Cobham while his future is decided. The 30-year-old scored 10 goals in 25 games for Inter on loan last season and only has eyes for the club.

Altogether Lukaku has 78 goals and 23 assists in 132 games for Inter, who he helped to win the Serie A in 2021 under Antonio Conte’s management before making the ill-advised big-money move back to Chelsea.

Romelu Lukaku has been ordered to return to Chelsea (Getty Images)

He is still expected to join the exodus which has seen Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Kai Havertz, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesar Azpilicueta, Baba Rahman, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Christian Pulisic leave the club.

As well as trying to shift Lukaku, Chelsea are working on deals to let Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech depar. Pochettino is keen to work with a smaller, tight-knit squad and is pushing to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton.

The club have already brought in Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson to bolster their forward ranks, while Pochettino will be tasked with getting the best out of Raheem Sterling and Mykhaylo Mudryk. “Now is a new start, a fresh start and they need to show their real quality,” he said. “But we need to create this platform for them to feel comfortable and to create the space for them to perform and improve.

“These players were arriving in difficult circumstances to join this football club and it’s a great challenge for us because we love to work in this way.”

Felix Keith