Five times English Premier League champions Chelsea are prepared to replace Romelu Lukaku with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski.
The Blues are aware that their striker Romelu Lukaku wants to return to Inter Milan after a disappointing season at Stamford Bridge. His departure will leave them without a traditional striker and Lewandowski can fill that position.
Recall that Lukaku moved to Chelsea from Inter Milan in August 2021, in a deal worth around €115M but failed to keep up with the goal scoring form he was enjoying in Italy. Hence, the Belgian striker feels Italy is the best place for him.
Currently, both Chelsea and Inter Milan are said to be discussing Lukaku’s loan deal. Futballnews gathered that Inter Milan are ready to pay around €18 million for that deal to scale through. While Chelsea had asked for about €20m-€25m for the loan deal.
Recent reports in Italy claimed that Chelsea are now willing to take a much lesser fee, and negotiations have reached an advanced stage.
At the time of publishing this report, it was still unclear whether any agreement would contain an option or obligation to make the move permanent, or how his £300,000-a-week earnings will be paid.
As that is still unsettled, Chelsea, on the other hand, are looking for a striker that can lead the club’s frontline in the coming 2022-2023 season.
Chelsea were interested in signing Erling Haaland but were unable to compete with Manchester City which signed the prolific Norwegian striker from Dortmund for less than £70 million. Hence, Chelsea’s focus now is on Robert Lewandowski.
Tuchel has long admired Lewandowski, who has stated his desire to leave Bayern Munich, and feels that despite turning 34 in August, he would thrive in the Premier League.
The Poland international has been linked with a €40 million move to Barcelona, with sources in Spain claiming he has verbally agreed to a contract this week.
Many European clubs are also pushing hard for Robert Lewandowski, with Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United among the clubs.
Aside from him, Chelsea are planning to submit an offer to Manchester United for Gabriel Jesus. The Brazilian won’t continue at City and he is searching for a new club.
Arsenal are interested in Jesus but could lose him to Chelsea because of the possibility of playing Champions League football.
RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku is another option for Chelsea in case the Robert Lewandowski and Gabriel Jesus deals fail. Nkunku had an amazing 2021/22 season and was named the player of the season in the Bundesliga.
