CHELSEA reportedly expect to wrap up the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan within the next 24 hours.
And the Blues will make the 28-year-old their highest-paid player as they close in on securing the Belgium international’s services.
Thomas Tuchel’s side have failed with two attempts to sign the ex-Manchester United ace, most recently having an £85MILLION bid rejected that included defender Marcos Alonso.
But Lukaku, who was sold by the Blues in 2014 to Everton after just 15 games in three years, has told Inter he wants to return to Stamford Bridge.
Inter boss Simone Inzaghi is furious with the club’s owners for their decision to sell Lukaku, who spearheaded the Nerazzurri to the Scudetto title last term.
According to the Daily Mail, the Blues believe they will agree a £95million deal with Inter to sign Lukaku in the next 24 hours.
They state that the Italian outfit set the West Londoners a deadline of Sunday to bring Lukaku back to the Premier League.
And they have claimed that Chelsea will make the centre-forward their highest-paid player where he will earn a basic salary of £350,00-a-week.
German playmaker Kai Havertz is currently the top earner at Chelsea following his move from Bayer Leverkusen last year.
He pockets £310k-a-week, with his compatriot Timo Werner on £270k-a-week followed by Ben Chilwell who takes home £190k-a-week.
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Tuchel admitted after the 2-2 pre-season draw against Tottenham earlier this week that he wants a striker of Lukaku’s profile.
Asked if the Inter ace is a target, he said: “I will not talk about players who don’t play in my squad.
“He is a fantastic player but a player from Inter and with all due respect I will not talk about him.
“I think with the exit from Olivier Giroud from the type of players we could use, a player used to playing with their backs to goal, whose strength is to keep possession from long balls.
“So we can add this direct style of play to our portfolio and this is the characteristic of player that is not Tammy [Abraham], Timo [Werner] or Kai [Havertz].
“So this is a profile we don’t have in the squad and could be useful, but not for any cost and not hectic or in panic as no matter what happens we will be competitive and have trust in our guys.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
