Romelu Lukaku has completed his return to Inter Milan on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
The Belgian left Inter Milan last summer to become Chelsea’s club-record signing, rejoining the Stamford Bridge outfit in a £97.5m move.
Lukaku had netted 64 goals and provided a further 16 assists during his two-year stint at the San Siro, re-establishing his reputation following what had been a mixed spell at Manchester United and prompting Chelsea to splash the cash.
However, his return to the Premier League certainly hasn’t gone to plan, scoring just eight goals in 26 league outings and falling out of favour under Thomas Tuchel, a low point of his season coming as he set a new Premier League record for the fewest touches (7) for an outfield player who played a full 90 minutes since records began.
The 29-year-old also conducted an ill-advised interview with Italian TV in which he expressed his desire to return to Inter at some point, while also questioning Tuchel’s use of him within the side.
He has now brought an end to that unhappiness by returning to Inter Milan on a season-long loan, with Sky Sports reporting that the Nerazzurri will pay a loan fee of £6.9m, plus a £3.5m bonus if they reclaim the title.
They say that the deal to take Lukaku back to Serie A does not include an obligation to buy, while the Italians will also cover the entirity of the striker’s wages.
Such was Lukaku’s willingness to return, it is said that he has agreed to take a 30 percent wage cut, equating to a £3m-a-year post-tax drop to £7m.
Chelsea are in talks to sign a number of forward options this summer, agreeing a £60 million fee with Leeds for the transfer of Raphinha, while also holding talks to sign Raheem Sterling and Ousmane Dembele from Man City and Barcelona respectively.
