All the talk about Romelu Lukaku’s future until now this summer has had one major caveat in mind – wait until after the Champions League final.
Well, that game has now come and gone, with Lukaku playing no small part in his team’s defeat. Now it’s time for the Italian team to count their prize money and plan for next season.
Sempre Inter are today writing that plans are in motion already to decide his future. They say a meeting has been agreed for later this month between the two clubs.
Lukaku will want it all sorted as soon as possible – he won’t want to go through the process of moving back to London again if it can all be avoided with a swift deal. Inter CEO Beppe Marotta has repeatedly said that the striker will return to Chelsea and then things can be sorted out – but that’s just a classic way of lowering expectations.
In the end it will likely come down to the future of Lautaro Martinez. If a top team like Real Madrid swoops in and signs him for big money, Inter will suddenly have a hole up top and a big wedge of cash. Then we could easily see Lukaku head off to replace him.
But if Martinez stays it’s hard to see how Inter put together an acceptable deal for Chelsea, even despite the influx of Champions League cash.
