As per Matt Law of The Telegraph, Chelsea and AS Roma have agreed a deal in principle over the loan of Romelu Lukaku.
Despite the Blues previously being intent on only agreeing a deal for a sale or loan with an option-to-buy, they have now accepted a straight season-long loan, with The Italian club set to pay £5m loan fee to Chelsea, and around £6m to the player himself in in wages.
Furthermore, the next steps will now be the contracts being signed and everything in the deal being made formal before the move is officially done
The 30-year-old moved to Stamford Bridge from Inter Milan for a fee of around €115m in 2021, and, having been sent back to his former side on loan just one year later in 2022, was said to prioritize playing in Italy this coming season- despite being subject of interest to multiple Saudi Arabian clubs.
However, he has been at the centre of a dramatic transfer saga all summer, as, although previously looking set to complete a permanent move back to Inter, The Nerazzurri rejected the signing of the Belgian amid his talks with their fierce rivals Juventus. However, The Old Lady also backed out of the deal- with the club’s ultras protesting against the potential move.
As a result, Lukaku is now set to return to the Serie A and reunite with José Mourinho at Roma and- in a league in which he scored 10 goals and gained 6 assists in last season, and a manager under which he accumulated 16 goals and 7 assists in the 2017/18 Premier League season at Manchester United.
Having scored the ninth the ninth most goals in the League last season, the Portuguese head coach and The Giallorossi will hope their new striker can regain the form he’s previously shown this coming season, as they look to improve upon their sixth place league position and go one better than their runners-up finish in the Europa League.
Travis Levison | Get Football
