Romelu Lukaku wants to leave Chelsea and return to Inter Milan and is prepared to take a huge pay cut in order to end his Stamford Bridge nightmare, according to reports in Italy.
The Belgium international has endured a tough second spell back in London after his £97.5m move last summer, only netting five goals in 17 Premier League matches so far.
At the start of the year, Lukaku was reprimanded and forced to apologise after giving an interview to Sky Sport Italia in which he said he was not happy with his situation at the club and suggested he has issues with Tuchel’s style of play.
His fortunes have not improved since then and he is yet to score a league goal in 2022, while he was dropped for Tuesday’s Champions League victory over Lille after having just seven touches against Crystal Palace at the weekend.
According to Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, Lukaku is fed up with life back with the Blues and is ready to return to Inter in the summer, while he maintains contact with some of the club’s directors.
But, any deal would be extremely complicated and Inter cannot afford a transfer fee, with the Italian club only able to bring Lukaku back to San Siro if Chelsea agree to loan out a player who broke their record just a few months ago.
From Inter’s side, there are some concerns about re-signing a player who jumped ship during the height of their financial issues, with a number of fans turning on the forward.
Lukaku’s camp are believed to have denied the reports and are frustrated with the timing of the article given that the player is trying to force his way back into the starting lineup for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final with Liverpool.
According to Gazzetta, Lukaku has the desire to return to Inter and is ready to not only take a pay cut relative to his current salary at Chelsea, but he is willing to accept a contract below what he earned at Inter Milan.
That is appealing to Inter’s hierarchy, though they are currently considering a move for young Italian forward Gianluca Scamacca.
