Soccer

Lukaku finally announces next club after Chelsea flop struggled to find team

Chelsea misfit Romelu Lukaku has announced his next club after struggling to find a team.

The striker has endured a turbulent few years, first being sold to former club Chelsea by a cash-strapped Inter Milan before returning last season for an underwhelming second spell at the San Siro.

The 30-year-old’s summer has been even more chaotic. Lukaku, who has been training with the Blues’ U21s since returning from his Inter loan, was keen to leave Stamford Bridge permanently but a preferred move to Juventus failed to materialise.

It appears that Chelsea have now finally found a destination for the wantaway Belgian, with the forward reportedly set for a return to Serie A with his former boss Jose Mourinho at Roma.

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It is understood that the two clubs completed the first round of talks on Saturday, with Roma submitting a loan bid with a fee. The final details involving the player’s salary still needed to be discussed ahead of Sunday, with Lukaku being required to take a drastic pay-cut to complete the move.

Chelsea reportedly want Lukaku to reduce his salary for the remainder of his contract until 2026 due to Roma only being prepared to pay £7million of his gargantuan £325,000-per-week wages.

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Yet Lukaku appeared convinced that a resolution would be met, telling reporters at a Belgian youth tournament on Saturday: “I am nervous. Tomorrow I will fly to Rome to sign.”

He will play under Mourinho for a third time in his career, having first burst onto the scene under the Portuguese manager at Chelsea and later been signed by Manchester United.

It comes after his dream move to Italian giants Juventus fell through due to the Turin-based club failing to meet Chelsea’s demands. The Londoners refused to pay £40million alongside Lukaku in a player-plus-cash deal for Dusan Vlahovic.

Lukaku also had the chance to earn eye-watering wages with Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, but opted not to follow some of his former Chelsea team-mates in heading to the Middle-East.

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