Nizaar Kinsella has just published a very interesting piece on the Evening Standard updating us all with the status of Romelu Lukaku’s transfer to Inter.
Chelsea are pushing him to move to Saudi Arabia – they will get a big transfer fee and Lukaku a raise – but instead the Belgian is still determined to move to Inter, who simply can’t afford him.
He’s willing to halve his wages for a second year in a row, but that doesn’t help the Champions League finalists pay a transfer fee for him. They would take him on loan, but that only pushes Chelsea’s problems with selling him another year down the line, and they clearly would prefer a permanent deal.
Also noted in the piece is Inter interest in defenders Cesar Azpilicueta and Trevoh Chalobah. They want both of them, but if they can’t even afford Lukaku, their hopes of adding two further players to the mix seem pretty remote – unless they’re going to send us one of their star players in return.