Romelu Lukaku's £98m Chelsea move could spark an Inter Milan exodus
Inter Milan stars are unhappy Romelu Lukaku is being sold as Belgian nears £98m move to Chelsea… with Lautaro Martinez, Milan Skriniar and Nicolo Barella among those considering their futures as the Italian giants implode
- Romelu Lukaku is edging closer to a huge £98million move back to Chelsea
- His departure could see a number of Inter Milan stars decide to also move on
- The Italian champions need to sell players to ease their financial difficulties
- A number of Inter players are furious with the decision to let Lukaku leave
Romelu Lukaku’s expected move to Chelsea will send shockwaves through the Inter Milan dressing room and could prompt a mass exodus from the San Siro.
After winning the Serie A title last season, Inter find themselves in disarray and must sell some of their prized assets to ease the burden on the club’s financial woes.
Owner Steven Zhang will consider any offers for his star players amid a summer of huge discontent that has seen manager Antonio Conte and star man Achraf Hakimi already leave.
Romelu Lukaku’s expected move to Chelsea has left his Inter Milan team-mates furious
Inter find themselves in disarray and owner Steven Zhang must sell players to raise money
As Sportsmail reported on Saturday, Chelsea are putting the finishing touches to a £98million move for Lukaku.
But the Belgian talisman’s exit is set to cause huge discontent among his Inter team-mates, who may also seek a way out of the club.
The sale of the former Manchester United star could trigger a domino effect, causing other players to assess their futures with some big names due to renew their contracts in the coming months.
There are a lot of agreements to be made, including the most urgent ones of Argentine striker Lautaro Martinez and Croatian midfielder Marcelo Brozovic, whose contracts with Inter expire in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
Without huge wages on offer it will be impossible to acquire new players of a similar ability to those who are being sold.
It will also be difficult to convince Stefan de Vrij, Milan Skriniar and Nicolo Barella to stay put.
The three of them were potential icons of the club but they could spontaneously ask to leave Inter among fears the club will not be able to challenge for the Serie A title and in the Champions League.
The sale of Hakimi to Paris Saint-Germain was seen as an inevitable sacrifice and was accepted by everyone because he had to be the only talent to be sacrificed to tackle the financial problems.
But Lukaku’s departure would cause fury among players and Inter supporters. Stats from last season show that Inter only had one win in the five games he was absent.
Milan Skriniar (left) and Nicolo Barella (right) will need convincing to stay put at the San Siro
Alexis Sanchez was a flop given the huge financial cost of the deal to bring him to the club and Andrea Pinamonti rarely plays, despite earning €2million (£1.6m) a year.
Lukaku represents 80 per cent of the team’s offensive potential and without him Inter will lose a fundamental point of reference to break the balance of every match.
So far the only one who has understood in advance the economic problems of the club has been Conte, who decided to jump ship earlier this summer.
Talks between Chelsea and Inter over Lukaku reached a conclusion on Saturday after days of negotiations over the fee and structure of the transfer.
Lukaku had agreed to the move earlier this week after it became clear Inter were willing to sell to alleviate financial concerns and is expected to agree terms on a contract worth around £10m a year after tax.
The deal will also see Manchester United – where Lukaku played for two years before heading to Serie A – receive £3.8m.
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