Romelu Lukaku is training by himself in Turkey and is reportedly refusing to return to Chelsea as he tries to force through a transfer to Inter Milan.
Lukaku spent last season on loan with Inter, where he scored 13 goals in 33 appearances across all competitions. His loan deal expired at the end of the 2022/23 campaign but he has not returned to his parent club and is instead documenting his solitary training schedule on Instagram.
The 30-year-old striker has been regularly uploading photos of himself in the gym, on a football pitch and in the pool. The Daily Mail reports that he is holed up at the Rixos Belek resort in Turkey while negotiations over his future take place.
Mauricio Pochettino does not see Lukaku in his plans at Chelsea and is hoping the club can sell him, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech to trim his squad. Nevertheless, Lukaku has been told he is expected to report for duty at the club’s Cobham training centre on July 17.
Yet Gazzetta dello Sport says he won’t turn up because he is trying to force his employer to lower their asking price. Inter have already seen a £23million bid rejected and they insist they won’t pay Chelsea’s asking price of £34m (€40m). The Blues bought Lukaku from Inter for £97.5m two years ago and want to recoup as much of that fee as possible.
Lukaku’s lawyer Sebastian Ledure has reportedly been in contract with Chelsea this week to try and smooth things over. But the Belgium international remains in limbo while the two clubs barter over his price.
There has been interest from Inter’s rivals AC Milan, Juventus and from Saudi Arabia, but Lukaku only has eyes for Inter. Lukaku has 78 goals and 23 assists in 132 games for Inter, who he helped to win the Serie A in 2021 under Antonio Conte’s management before making the ill-advised big-money move back to Chelsea.
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Chelsea have undergone a major fire sale this summer, bringing in over £200m by shipping out Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Kai Havertz, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Cesar Azpilicueta, Baba Rahman and Tiemoue Bakayoko.
Christian Pulisic is set to join them, with a £18m move to AC Milan in the works, while Lukaku, Aubameyang and Ziyech are all set to follow suit. Pochetino is keen to draw a line under last season and give Chelsea’s underperforming players a chance to shine.
“Now is a new start, a fresh start and they need to show their real quality,” he said. “But we need to create this platform for them to feel comfortable and to create the space for them to perform and improve.
“These players were arriving in difficult circumstances to join this football club and it’s a great challenge for us because we love to work in this way. But of course, we need to give them the opportunity to show they are able to cope with the pressure to play for Chelsea and perform with the best.”
