Chelsea rocked as Romelu Lukaku burns bridges and scuppers £34m Inter transfer

Chelsea’s hopes of offloading Romelu Lukaku this summer now seemingly rest with Juventus after the Belgian shattered his chances of returning to Inter Milan on a permanent deal following transfer talks with their direct rivals. The £97.5million flop has been the subject of extensive discussions with the Champions League finalists in the past few weeks as he targets a permanent return to Inter but controversially, Lukaku now appears to have had his head turned by Juventus.

Juve have tabled Chelsea an offer worth £32m plus £2m in add-ons for the 30-year-old but have informed the Blues that they will only be pursuing the move if they can flog Dusan Vlahovic.

Meanwhile, Inter’s latest proposal is also valued at £34m but only £30m of that figure will be paid upfront with the rest made up via add-ons.

Chelsea do not have a preference when it comes to a sale but the Blues are looking to recoup maximal funds as they prepare to take a substantial loss on their former club-record signing, who has endured a miserable return to Stamford Bridge following his blockbuster 2021 summer transfer.

As reported by Gianluca Di Marzio, it’s now understood Inter have decided to retract their interest as in their view, Lukaku has disrespected them after entertaining a possible switch to Juve.

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AC Milan also tentatively explored a deal for Lukaku earlier this summer which did not impress Inter, particularly after Lukaku publicly declared 18 months ago that he would never consider joining one of the Nerazzurri’s arch rivals.

He told Sky Italia in December 2021: “If Juventus or AC Milan will call me in the future? Never, never. Again: never. It’s never gonna happen.

“Juventus wanted me before Inter but when [Antonio] Conte joined Inter it was my priority to join them. In Italy there’s only Inter for me.”

As Juve are also struggling to finance the deal, Chelsea now face the prospect of being stuck with a striker that has made it abundantly clear he does not wish to remain at Chelsea – even if handed a fresh start under Mauricio Pochettino.

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Lukaku also received a mega offer from Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal at the start of the window which he opted to decline as he wishes to continue his playing career in Europe.

Inter now look set to explore other targets even if they remain Lukaku’s priority destination of choice and there is a sense the deal is now longer revivable.

Di Marzio is also reporting that Lukaku has already tried to rebuild bridges with Inter sporting director Piero Ausilio via a phone call but the conversation is not alleged to have lasted very long.

The relationship is unlikely to be healed, meaning Chelsea are back to the drawing board as they continue their attempts to offload the likes of Lukaku, Hakim Ziyech and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Incredibly, it is also claimed that Lukaku began to negotiate with Juventus as Inter geared up for the Champions League final against Manchester City in Istanbul.

The centre-forward was left frustrated as he started the match on the bench before he came on and missed two notable chances as Inter went in search of a late equaliser.

Chelsea are thought to be in the market for a new No.9 themselves but Juventus’ Vlahovic is not currently of interest.

The Blues are admirers of Napoli’s Victor Osimhen but he is set to remain in Naples for at least one more season and could yet extend his contract.

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