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The Lionel Messi file eclipses a large part of football news, and yet, these are sacred movements that the 2021 summer transfer window offers us. Proof of this is with the transfer, to say the least unexpected, of Romelu Lukaku. The 28-year-old Belgian striker, who assured a few weeks ago that he would stay at Inter Milan, will engage with Chelsea in the coming hours. Chelsea, who had already recruited him in 2011 for € 15 million from Anderlecht, without ever offering him a real chance to shine.
Lukaku, barely 18 when he arrived in the Premier League, had been loaned to West Bromwich Albion and then to Everton, where he would reveal himself. As a result, the Toffees decided to recruit him definitively by paying Chelsea € 35m. Three full seasons later, Lukaku had become a confirmed Premier League scorer and pushed Manchester United to shell out € 84.70m to afford it.
In front of Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo
The adventure with the Red Devils did not reach the expected magnitude, despite honest statistics, so it was in Italy that the Belgian international dodged, with Inter still dropping € 74 million to recover it. . So ten years later, here is Chelsea buying Romelu Lukaku again, and at a much higher rate. The transfer is expected to be around € 115 million. Which establishes Romelu Lukaku as the most expensive player in cumulative transfers, the addition now amounting to € 327 million.
He is ahead of Neymar (88 M € paid by Barcelona, then 222 M € by PSG for a total of 310 M €), and Cristiano Ronaldo (230 M € in total), who remain on the podium. More surprisingly, the fourth place is occupied by Alvaro Morata, who has chained the transfers (Real Madrid, Juventus, Chelsea, Atlético, again Juventus) to reach 189 M €. Then follow two PSG players, Kylian Mbappé, with a single transfer of € 180m which is enough to position him, and Angel Di Maria, who has accumulated € 179m spent thanks to Real Madrid, Manchester United and therefore to PSG.
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