Agent Neil Barnett, who has dealt with some of the game’s top superstars over the years, has put out some interesting quotes about the future of Romelu Lukaku, the Chelsea striker signed for £100m and subsequently loaned out repeatedly.
In quotes picked up by Sport Witness Barnett says that there are two teams interested now: not just the Napoli (with newly appointed manager Antonio Conte, as reported earlier today) but also Jose Mourinho’s new look Fenerbahce:
“Chelsea want to sell Lukaku, it will be a battle between Conte and Napoli and Mourinho with Fenerbahce,” he said. Chelsea also have to economise; these are no longer the times of the past and they don’t want players who are over 24 years old and as expensive as Osimhen.
“Leipzig’s Sesko is more in line with Chelsea’s new line. Chelsea know that they may have difficulty selling Lukaku and then it is possible that they could let him go on loan, but they would not want to pay too much of his salary.”
The starting point for a successful deal
We’ve got no doubt that those two sides are interesting in Lukaku – the question is whether they’re capable of paying the money it would take to get him, both in terms of wages and in terms of the fee Chelsea want – reportedly £38m.
It would be an unusually large investment from either of them, especially for a player of that age, and it’s tricky to see the gap being bridged. But Chelsea will once again be desperate to get the Belgian off the wage bill as quickly as possible, and they may be willing to get very flexible in the terms of the deal in order to make it happen.
The important thing is that there’s interest in signing him – that’s the essential starting point for any confidence that we will finally be able to end this nightmare saga this summer.
No sell The Top Bid for Osihem