It is the summer of 2021 and Chelsea, the reigning European champions, are in the final stages of concluding their club-record deal to bring Romelu Lukaku back to Stamford Bridge. The fee being paid to Inter Milan is excessive – £97.5million – yet there are few concerns with Marina Granovskaia on track to recoup a similar figure through player sales.
Those who have already been sacrificed for sizeable fees are academy graduates: Fikayo Tomori to AC Milan for £25million; Marc Guehi to Crystal Palace in a deal worth up to £20million; Tino Livramento to Southampton for £5million. Tammy Abraham will head to Roma for £34million imminently, while Ike Ugbo is in the process of securing a £5million switch to Genk.
There are further homegrown exits too with the likes of Lewis Bate off to Leeds United, Myles Peart-Harris heading down the road to Brentford, and Dynel Simeu linking up with Southampton. Admittedly, these are not transfers that hugely bolster the Lukaku transfer fund.
