Romelu Lukaku returned to San Siro less than 12 months after leaving Inter Milan to become Chelsea’s club record holder.
Inter confirmed the signing
Inter have confirmed the loan signing of the Belgian player as the striker returns to Serie A after just one disappointing season with the Blues. The San Siro club will pay an €8m loan fee to Chelsea, with potential for performance-related additions. Romelu’s move comes a year after he joined the Blues for a club-record fee of £100m last summer.
What did Romelu Lukaku say?
The Belgian striker showed up with club president Steven Zhang at a building in Milan to confirm the deal. “So we will score a lot of goals?” Steven asked Romelu in a video posted on Inter’s social media accounts. Romelu Lukaku replied that that’s what they’re here for. The striker promises. Inter said Romelu would be No.90 at San Siro this season.
What happened between Romelu and Chelsea?
After the breakup between Romelu Lukaku and Tuchel, Chelsea wanted a high salary for a player of £325,000 a week from his books. Current Blues owner Todd Boehly has prioritized negotiations around Romelu to start the club’s summer business, while the Belgian also wanted to leave Stamford Bridge.
Romelu Lukaku has hired a lawyer to help ease the move back to Inter after his difficult 2021-22 campaign, wanting a return to the club where the player scored 64 goals in two seasons and was named Serie A MVP in 2021.
Although Romelu was the Blues’ leading scorer last year with 15 goals, the player struggled to adapt to Thomas Tuchel’s system and relations between the two never recovered after the striker gave an unsanctioned mid-season interview critical of the club.
A little about the topic
The Blues will actually be paying Inter to take Romelu, even though the loan fee will be paid by the Italian club. Chelsea will continue to pay annual installments on Romelu’s original transfer, with those payments set at €23m.
Roc Nation, a sports agency owned by Jay-Z, helped facilitate negotiations that involved their client, Romelu, and Todd Boehly, with whom they have worked extensively in the past. The deal shows that Todd and the new Chelsea consortium are fully committed to Thomas, despite the costs.