Chelsea’s summer has had more action than most teams – they’ve hoovered up a number of young talents and a free transfer. But the wheels on the big deals are yet to really get moving. There are some important sales that need to be made to clear space, and until they’re completed, nothing can really happen.
One of those is getting rid of Romelu Lukaku, and that’s a transfer which finally looks to be progressing. The first step was finding a buyer – and Antonio Conte’s move to Napoli this summer finally produced one. Now we have to wait for the Italian side to generate the cash to be able to afford Lukaku.
That’s going to happen through their sale of Victor Osimhen, something which has been very slow going. Their high demands have ruled out most clubs, and it looks like only PSG in the race at the moment.
Lukaku move pending
Fabrizio Romano’s column for CaughtOffside says that the Parisians are still working on the deal as they search for a Kylian Mbappe replacement. There’s a long way to go, and they’re trying to drive the price down, but there seems generally some hope that it’s coming. The clubs are both pretty happy to make it happen, as is Osimhen:
“So, the situation is that PSG are advancing in talks with the player, he’s open to joining PSG. PSG want to negotiate but we know it’s never easy with Napoli. For sure, the priority for Osimhen is to leave Napoli and this is the intention. PSG are on it, in case Osimhen leaves Napoli will surely go for Romelu Lukaku as his replacement,” Romano wrote.
In the background, the Lukaku deal is moving forwards. The framework is there, and once the cash is in for Osimhen we would expect the green light to be pressed on Lukaku almost right away.
