ROMELU LUKAKU will reportedly have to reluctantly return to Chelsea at the end of his Inter Milan loan despite wanting to stay in Italy.
The 29-year-old striker helped the Serie A giants to title glory in 2021 before heading back to the Blues in a £98.5m move.
But his second stint at Chelsea failed to turn into the dream he envisioned and he returned to Inter on loan last summer.
However, the Belgian striker has endured a frustrating campaign on the injury front and has scored just seven goals in 24 games.
Even though he has endured those difficulties, he wants to remain with Inter, but he appears to be set for disappointment, according to Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport.
They claim that Lukaku will return to West London “against his will” as his loan club is not able to afford the potential cost of another move.
READ MORE ON CHELSEA
They recently announced losses of £694m over the past decade along with an annual operating loss of around £133m.
That means that chiefs will be forced into trying to make savings this summer along with the prospect that they may miss out on qualification for the Champions League and the financial rewards that would bring.
This update states that they feel they have not received enough in return from Lukaku this term to justify the £6.9m loan fee plus the cost of covering a significant part of his £325,000-a-week wages.
And now Inter are planning ahead for a future without the ex-Everton and Manchester United man in attack.
Most read in Football
BETTING SPECIAL – BEST FOOTBALL BETTING SITES IN THE UK
The report also stresses that Lukaku wants to stay so that he is prepared to take a wage cut.
He has also scored some vital goals in recent weeks, especially in the Champions League, as he netted the winner against Porto in the last-16 as well as getting one in last week’s 2-0 first-leg quarter final win over Benfica.
But now it seems that he will have to go on a red-hot streak until the end of the season in order to try and change Inter’s minds.
It also leaves Chelsea with a potential dilemma as they will need to balance the books after Todd Boehly’s huge outlay on new signings.
And the striker will no doubt have been viewed as one of the players that the club could sell in order to recoup funds.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
