Lukaku, Chelsea opening: yes to an exchange, no to the loan. Ball to Inter

The Blues do not close to the hypothesis of a farewell of the Belgian striker, but the path of the loan is not viable

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A very complicated negotiation, and not just for a pure economic question. But not impossible. Romelu Lukaku’s dream of returning to Inter it is not an impassable hypothesis and Chelsea, after a market summit between Tuchel and the management, opened a small window: not to free or almost free loans, yes to the sale. It will now be up to the Nerazzurri to respond, as he writes The Gazzetta dello Sport: “Summit was supposed to be and summit was. In advance of plans, because Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel has already met his managers, receiving full powers on the transfer market. This immediately produced the first effects on the Lukaku front, which can change the scenario of the Inter market. The Blues know perfectly well that the pairing between the German coach and Romelu will certainly not be proposed again next season. And then the Blues have for the first time opened the possibility of a farewell to the attacker towards Inter, the only route that the Belgian wants to take.“.

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“The opening is there, but the road ahead remains very narrow. And above all, it is not under the conditions that the Nerazzurri club hoped for. Chelsea will let Lukaku leave but not on a free loan or so. He can’t do it, he doesn’t want to do it even a year after having invested 115 million euros. It is a financial question, of course, but also of image: it would create a dangerous precedent that the English club feels the duty to avoid. That’s why from London, through Lukaku, they threw the ball back towards Milan. The message that the Blues, through the lawyer Ledure, have delivered to Inter is the following: we are willing to talk but now you find the right fit. Can it not be, for obvious reasons, an outright purchase or even a loan linked to an obligation, for budgetary reasons? The onerous loan, just to be understood, would hardly go below 23 million, which is Romelu’s amortization figure in Chelsea’s balance sheet.“.

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“Here then is the third way, in the background: the possibility of an exchange, the arrival in Milan of Lukaku and the reverse journey of a player who is liked by Tuchel. And, Inter’s squad in hand, the names that can have a high-level market in the Premier are the usual ones: Skriniar, Bastoni and Lautaro above all. All this, with formulas to be defined and not necessarily the same for the three players in question. It is a step forward in the negotiation, a state of progress in a deal that sees Lukaku as the main actor and Inter, obviously, very interested spectators. We are at the first skirmishes of an indirect dialogue, which is not certain will never become a face to face between the two clubs. Romelu has been pushing for Inter since the days of the famous New Year’s boom interview, convinced that he can replicate his 2019 exit from Manchester United. Now it remains to understand how Inter will react to this response from Chelsea. Until now, Zhang’s company had always filtered the hypothesis of a free loan as the only way. Now there is an opening. Not the one hoped for, 100%. But perhaps it is better to keep the channel open“.

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