Official figures released by Inter Milan have confirmed that they struck an agreement worth €7.8million (£6.7m) with Chelsea to secure Romelu Lukaku's services for the season.
The Italian giants swooped for the Belgian striker in the summer - just 12 months after the Blues shelled out a record £97.5m fee to bring Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge for a second spell at the club.
Unfortunately, Lukaku's first year back at Chelsea was not a fruitful one. He made an electric start to life back in the Premier League, netting three times in as many matches, but the goals soon dried up. Lukaku mustered just five more league strikes during the remainder of the campaign and fell out of favour under Thomas Tuchel.
With that in mind, Chelsea were more than willing to do business when Inter approached them over a deal to re-sign Lukaku in the summer; and it has now been revealed in Inter's annual shareholder meeting that the Serie A titans paid even less than first reported to sign the former Manchester United man on loan for the season.
Since returning to Italy, Lukaku's fortunes have been mixed. Once again, he made an impressive start to life at his new club by plundering two goals in just four games. The 29-year-old then picked up a hamstring injury at the end of August that sidelined him for the best part of two months - but he made a goalscoring return to action in the final stages of Inter's win over Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Despite Lukaku's expended spell on the sidelines, it has already been claimed that Inter are keen on keeping the striker in Milan beyond this season. Both Chelsea and Lukaku are also believed to be receptive to a longer agreement.
Join the debate! Do you think Lukaku still has a future at Chelsea? Let us know here.
According to Tuttosport, via Sempre Inter, Lukaku had a meeting with Roc Nation President Michael Yormak over his future. The report claims that Yormak stressed he will do whatever he can to ensure his client remains at the San Siro.
Although there has been a change of leadership at Chelsea since Lukaku's departure, his desire to remain at Inter should not come as a total surprise. Just months after returning to Chelsea, Lukaku dropped a big hint that he was yearning for a return to his previous club in an interview that caused uproar at Stamford Bridge.
"I think everything that happened was not supposed to happen like this," Lukaku told Sky Sport Italia back in December. "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.
"Now I think it is right to speak because I have always said that I have Inter in my heart. I will return to play there, I really hope so. I am in love with Italy, this is rightly the time to talk and let people know what really happened without talking badly about people, because I am not like that."
