Lukaku imminent £110m deal tears Inter, Chelsea fans apart, as ex-players, managements kick

Fans of Chelsea and Inter Milan are at daggers drawn with their various management boards over an imminent transfer of Belgium International, Romelu Lukaku Bolingoli to the English Premier League from the Italian Serie A.

Lukaku is wanted by Chelsea in a deal said to be nearing conclusion with personal terms between player and the London club already agreed.

Lukaku has scored 64 goals in 95 games in all competitions in the past two seasons for Inter, and helped them to win the Scudetto (Italian Serie A title) last season.

However, while both clubs are said to have reached an agreement for a fee said to be in the range of £110m, fans and ex-players, as well as top management hands on both sides differ on the agreement, a situation that has seen almost protests by Inter supporters, and Chelsea fans alike.

Lukaku was formerly a Chelsea player bought from Anderlecht in Belgium who spent loan stints at Everton and West Bromwich Albion before being sold to Manchester United, that in turn also sold off the player to Inter Milan.

Chelsea had earlier in July offered €100 million plus defender Marcos Alonso, which was turned down by Inter Milan, an outright cash bid of €130m was tabled before the Italian outfit by Chelsea which now looks set to be accepted for Lukaku as he nears return to the English Premier League.

Reacting to the imminent deal, former Inter Milan striker, Antonio Cassano, questioned Romelu Lukaku’s motives for wanting to return to Chelsea, a club he claimed showed him lack of respect during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Lukaku has resurrected his career in Serie A, leading Inter Milan’s attack during last season’s title-winning campaign under Antonio Conte.

The Belgium international had previously been deemed surplus to requirements by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Manchester United, having previously failed to make the grade at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho.

Speaking on the development, Cassano asked Lukaku if his motive for wanting a return to Chelsea was for money.

“If this is really how much they [Chelsea] are offering, I would take him [Lukaku] there personally,” Cassano said on Twitch.

“Having said that, I want to figure out what is going on here. He had two really bad experiences in England, one decent one with Everton, and he wants to go back there [to Chelsea].

“I have to ask myself, why go back to a club that didn’t appreciate you? Is it for money?”

Also reacting to the deal, Italian and Chelsea hero, Gianfranco Zola, however, said that he was curious to see Inter Milan striker, Romelu Lukaku, join the Blues.

Zola, however, admitted that he likes Chelsea’s squad the way they were during the 2020/21 season.

He also worried about Timo Werner, who does ‘dirty job’ for Chelsea if Lukaku eventually signs for Chelsea this summer.

“Chelsea had an extraordinary season last year, but the focus was always on the fact that they lacked a goalscorer.

“They often created chances, and in some games, they were quite penalized. Lukaku comes in to fill that gap, but I liked Chelsea the way they were.

“Werner did a dirty job for everyone else, and the reason they won the Champions League is because he put others in a position to do well.

“I am curious to see Lukaku, but I liked Chelsea the way they were,” said Zola.

Also, another Chelsea former player and international teammate of Lukaku, Eden Hazard, has now tipped his compatriot to succeed at the London club.

Speaking to FIFA.com, Hazard effectively told his former club why they should make the 28-year-old their second signing of the summer – after Marcus Bettinelli – by highlighting the fact that Lukaku is ruthless in front of goal and has improved his defensive contributions.

“What’s great about having Romelu is that he doesn’t need many chances to score,” Hazard added. “Maybe a few years ago, he needed more.

“The reason why he’s in the category of the very best strikers is that when he gets three chances in a game, he scores two.

“In terms of movement, he’s better than he was a few years ago. In terms of defending, he does more.”

At the management level Lukaku’s deal has not gone down well with them, as Italian newspaper, Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Inter Milan CEO Beppe Marotta and coach Simone Inzaghi are angry that the offer has been accepted against their wishes by the club’s owners, Suning Holdings Group.

Inzaghi is said to be ‘furious,’ as he thought the club would only have to sell Achraf Hakimi.

The story also suggests that Marotta and fellow directors; Piero Ausilio and Dario Baccin could resign over plans to sell Lukaku to Chelsea, especially after having sold the right-back Hakimi to French club, PSG for over $70m.

It is also rumoured that another player, 29-year-old centre-back Stefan de Vrij could now ask to leave.

It is also now unclear if any of the Lukaku money will be made available to Inzaghi to sign a replacement.

Inter’s owners, Suning Holdings Group headed by Steven Zhang, as Club Chairman, had warned the club’s management that they must make €80m from player sales this year, and cut the wage bill by 20 per cent.

Hakimi moved to PSG for €71m, but the Lukaku sale was sanctioned with no other cost-cutting transfers in the pipeline.

For the player himself, Lukaku has not objected to a reunion with Chelsea, as he was quick to agree personal terms with the London club, earlier in the week, paving the way now for both clubs to officially sign a deal.

The 28-year-old spent three seasons on the books of Chelsea after signing from Anderlecht for an initial fee of €12m in 2011. However, he made just 15 appearances in all competitions, failing to score a goal, and instead enjoyed productive loan spells at West Bromwich Albion and Everton before moving to Goodison Park permanently.

Lukaku feels he has unfinished business at Chelsea, and wants to go back and prove himself there.

Chelsea will have no hard time convincing Lukaku to return to West London, with the player ready to accept a move back to the club who sold him to Everton for £28m seven years ago. Inter have already rejected an opening offer of £88m plus defender, Marcos Alonso, having bought Lukaku for £73m from United two years ago.

Lukaku, despite having had a disappointing first spell at Chelsea with just 15 appearances for Chelsea as a youngster, and failing to register a goal, has been a major threat in front of goal since making the move to Inter Milan

The 28-year-old has scored 64 goals in all competitions in his two seasons with the club.

With Olivier Giroud already sold to AC Milan, and Tammy Abraham set to be either also sold or loaned out, and also with Timo Werner bought  from German club, RB Leipzig not convincing enough in goal, coach Thomas Tuchel is in dire need of a prolific striker at Stamford Bridge home of Chelsea this summer, and the club is in desperate need of one.

Abraham is rumoured to be completing his West London move this summer, leaving Werner as the sole striker.

Werner had a disappointing first season at Stamford Bridge. He registered just seven goals for Chelsea, as fans’ frustration grew as the season went on.

Chelsea had been looking to sign Dortmund’s Erling Haaland this summer, but were priced out of a move for the Norwegian star, who is likely to remain at Borussia Dortmund until next season.

As it is now, when the deal is finally struck, Marcos Alonso should be heading to the Serie A but apart from him, full-back Davide Zappacosta’s name has also been doing the rounds.

Chelsea will not have a problem in letting either of them join Inter if the Italians are willing to sell Lukaku and since they are already offering a sizeable amount.

At the fans’ section, there was a somewhat underwhelming fan protest at the Inter headquarters after reports emerged that Lukaku will be sold to Chelsea for €130m, which would end his two-season spell with the Nerazzurri, where he scored 64 goals in just 95 competitive games.

However, Inter fans are in uproar online, even as that does not seem to have yet translated to the streets, as there was just one supporter at the club HQ to protest Thursday afternoon.

The man pinned a hand-written sign to the door, reading: ‘Lukaku non si tocca’ (Lukaku is untouchable).

“If we sell Lukaku, we’ll have to completely transform the squad, the tactics, the way we play,” the fan told reporters.

“We lose Lukaku to bring in who, Giacomo Raspadori? Let’s not kid around here. Do we want to win or spend another 10-15 years without a trophy, watching Juventus, Milan and others?

“Steven Zhang said just three weeks ago that the big moves were finished. I wouldn’t sell Lukaku even for €150m. We’d balance the books, but then what team do we have left?”

Inter Milan fans already fuming over losing Antonio Conte, Achraf Hakimi now likely seeing exit of Romelu Lukaku bombarded his Lukaku’s agent’s Instagram page ahead of the player’s Chelsea move.

Inter have run into financial difficulties forcing the club into selling superstar Achraf Hakimi already this summer, while Scudetto-winning head coach Antonio Conte also decided to abandon ship following decision of the club owners to sell top players of the club and reluctance to replace the sold players.

Fans of the club have now become even more agitated with their star-man seemingly off to Chelsea despite owners Suning Holdings Group having promised there would be no more ‘big’ sales.

In an attempt to make their voices heard, Inter ultras erected a threatening banner outside the club’s headquarters on Wednesday targeting Suning while also flooding Pastorelli’s Instagram page.

This led to one fan apologising to the agent on Thursday night, saying: “I apologise on behalf of Inter fans for the bad words in these comments… everything is fine, but exaggerating in this way seems too much to me.

“But if you can do what you can to keep Lukaku you would make many happy… Otherwise thanks anyway and good luck.”

For Chelsea fans, the protest is somewhat muted as they opted to take their grievances and opposition to the online platform, where they questioned the rationale behind paying so much fee for a player once rejected by the club.

The fans who had clamoured for the signing of a much younger and more prolific goalscorer in Erling Haaland of Borussia Dortmund, said the club is wasting money on a 28-year old player who may not have much left in him for more goals.

If the deal does scales through, it is believed Lukaku’s total combined transfer fees paid for him will reach £293m if Chelsea agree to meet Inter Milan’s £102m asking price for the Belgian, according to Transfermarkt (via Sky Sports).

That would make the 28-year-old the most expensive player ever ahead of Neymar whose accumulated transfer fees currently stand at £279m.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, completes the top three as his career transfers cost Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus £207m.

Alvaro Morata, Angel Di Maria and Antoine Griezmann, respectively sit in fourth, fifth and sixth on the list at £170m, £161m and £157m respectively.

Chelsea will make the 28-year-old their highest-paid player as they believe they will agree a deal with Inter to sign Lukaku in the next 24 hours.

They state that the Italian outfit set the West Londoners a deadline of Sunday to bring Lukaku back to the Premier League.

And they have claimed that Chelsea will make the centre-forward their highest-paid player where he will earn a basic salary of £350, 000-a-week.

German playmaker Kai Havertz is currently the top earner at Chelsea following his move from Bayer Leverkusen last year.

He pockets £310k-a-week, with his compatriot Timo Werner on £270k-a-week followed by Ben Chilwell who takes home £190k-a-week.

In a new twist to the Lukaku deal, it is understood that Premier League rival, Manchester United will pocket up to five per cent of the transfer fee to be paid by Chelsea to Inter Milan.

Manchester United had inserted a sell-on clause on the deal to sell Lukaku to Inter Milan and the if the deal materializes, United will take a cut of the transfer fee, which could reach £5 million.

As confirmed by British tabloids, The Telegraph and Daily Star, Manchester United agreed a 5% sell on clause for Lukaku when he was sold to Inter Milan in 2019.

Lukaku first came close to rejoining Chelsea in 2017 but instead chose to move to Manchester United.