Chelsea manager Graham Potter is reportedly open to bringing Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge after the record signing's year on loan in Italy.
Belgium striker Lukaku joined in a club-record £97.5m move at the start of the 2021-22 season. However, after he failed to make the desired impact under Thomas Tuchel, the Blues allowed the 29-year-old to return to his former club Inter Milan on loan for the season.
Tuchel is no longer at the helm, though, with Chelsea handing the German his marching orders after a Champions League defeat in Zagreb prolonged a slow start to the season. Potter is expected to look at all his options over the coming months, and these options could include Lukaku.
According to ESPN, Potter is set to hold talks with Lukaku at the end of the current season. The former Brighton manager, who drew with Red Bull Salzburg in his first game in charge, is said to have not closed the door over a return.
Lukaku is under contract with Chelsea until 2026, and there have previously been suggestions his loan to Inter could be extended for a second season. Inter paid £74m to sign him from Manchester United before selling him on to the Blues, but their financial situation has changed since then.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Potter will be tearing the striker away from his current club, though. Lukaku enjoyed his first spell in Milan, helping Inter win Serie A under Antonio Conte in 2021, and reports from Italy suggest he has no desire to come back to west London.
"I think everything that happened was not supposed to happen like this," Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia last season, during a campaign in which he only scored eight Premier League goals. "How I left Inter, how I communicated with the fans, this bothers me because it is not the right time now, but even when I left it was not the right time."
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With Lukaku away on loan, Chelsea have turned to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in an effort to revitalise their attack. The striker joined from Barcelona on transfer deadline day but played just once under Tuchel - his one-time manager at Borussia Dortmund - before the German was sacked.
Aubameyang spoke highly of Tuchel upon arriving at Stamford Bridge. The former Arsenal star also featured under Potter against Salzburg, though, and has spoken encouragingly about the new man in charge.
"I think he is a person who is really positive and with a great character," the Gabon international said. "We will try to learn with him. We want to win as soon as possible. I think his idea is very clear so I think it is going to be easy. I think it takes time to adapt to each other as well but it is going to be okay."
