Chelsea are ready to sell high-earning striker Romelu Lukaku so they can fund a move to hijack one club's move for a £207,000-per-week star.
Lukaku attracting Serie A interest as Chelsea set price tag
The Belgian will go down as one of Chelsea's most regrettable transfer mishaps in recent memory, three years after they re-signed Lukaku in a marquee £98 million deal from Inter.
smallRelatedChelsea hold new talks with Premier League club over signing £70m "talent"He's fresh off the back of an excellent campaign.Lukaku certainly hasn't justified the price Chelsea paid to bring him back to Stamford Bridge from Italy, with the 31-year-old playing just one full season at the club before they opted to send him out on a succession of loan spells.The former Everton star was sent back to Inter on a temporary deal for the 2022/23 season, where he managed 14 goals and seven assists in all competitions under Simone Inzaghi, before joining Roma for 2023/24.
Cole Palmer 7.48 Conor Gallagher 7.13 Nicolas Jackson 7.07 Moises Caicedo 6.85 Noni Madueke 6.84 Lukaku scored 21 goals and registered a further four assists in total at the Stadio Olimpico, showcasing the fact he is still a reliable goalscorer, but he endured a nightmare at Euro 2024 – missing chance after chance and having multiple goals disallowed while representing his country in Germany.The £325,000-per-week forward appears destined to leave Chelsea for good, with Serie A sides once again expressing a serious interest. Both Milan and Napoli are contending to sign Lukaku, according to reports in Italy, but Antonio Conte's side might have the edge. Some media sources state that Lukaku has already agreed to join Napoli and reunite with Conte in the process. The pair enjoyed a terrific time together at Inter, with Lukaku's impressive 24 goals and 10 assists guiding the Nerazzurri to a Scudetto triumph in 2021 before he re-joined Chelsea.Chelsea have set Lukaku's price tag at around £38 million, according to reliable transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano, but it remains to be seen whether Milan or Napoli agree to pay that sum for a player approaching his twilight years.In any case, the striker's sale would do wonders to help Chelsea fund their own transfer activity, as the west Londoners remain contenders to sign Napoli star Victor Osimhen.Chelsea set to sell Lukaku so they can fund Osimhen hijackAs per CaughtOffside, Chelsea are ready to sell Lukaku and Armando Broja to fund a move for Osimhen, and they could hijack Paris Saint-Germain's talks to sign the Nigerian by doing so. Enzo Maresca's side have not given up hope on landing Osimhen, despite the Ligue 1 champions currently being in talks with Napoli as they look to reach a compromise on his £110 million release clause.Osimhen, who's scored 76 goals in 133 appearances since joining Napoli from Lille, also boasts an impressive 21 goals in 35 international caps for his country. The £207,000-per-week star has been one of Serie A's most prolific stars for a number of years, and the race to sign him now looks to be hotting up.