Chelsea are confident that the club will be able to offload Romelu Lukaku next summer, following the forward’s fine form this season.
Lukaku joined Roma on a season-long loan deal after being deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea and has had an excellent start at the Italian side, with nine goals in 14 appearances for the capital club.
The 30-year-old continued that form on the international stage this week with four goals in Belgium’s 5-0 thrashing of Azerbaijan, to set a new record for goals in a European Championship qualification campaign with 14.
Lukaku is now the joint-seventh highest scorer in international football history and the Standard are reporting that his return to form has raised optimism at Chelsea that a permanent sale can be arranged.
The Belgian failed to make an impact after his £97.5m move to west London in 2021 and spent last season on loan at Inter Milan, before joining Roma on a similar arrangement for the current campaign.
Roma have an option to make the move permanent for a fee of around £37m, though manager Jose Mourinho could leave the Stadio Olimpico at the end of the season.
However, Antonio Conte has been linked with replacing Mourinho in Rome and has a strong relationship with Lukaku, with the duo having won the Serie A title together at Inter Milan in 2020/21.
Lukaku has scored 63 goals in 107 appearances in Serie A, across spells at Inter and Roma.
