Chelsea ordered to pay €80 million to sign 23-year-old striker linked with Manchester United: Reports
Chelsea will reportedly have to shell out a €80 million fee if they want to sign Manchester United target Dusan Vlahovic from Juventus. As claimed by Gazzetta Dello Sport (h/t SportWitness), the Blues are interested in the Serbia international as Mauricio Pochettino looks for a top-class striker up front.
As per the aforementioned report, the Blues will need to splash a fee of around €80 million (£64.8m) in order to sign Vlahovic. Chelsea have acquired Senegalese attacker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal for around £30 million this summer. However, it is understood that the Blues are looking for a more established first-choice number nine and Vlahovic fits the bill.
Vlahovic has not quite managed to live up to the expectations following his €70 million move from Fiorentina to Juventus in January 2022. However, he remains a coveted player and has been linked with clubs like Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester United.
The Serb has found the back of the net just 23 time in 63 appearances for the Old Lady so far. He netted 14 goals in 42 games across all competitions for Juvenmtus last season while managing four assists.
The west London side have Armando Broja, David Datro Fofana, Nicolas Jackson and Romelu Lukaku as their options up front right now. However, Lukaku's future remains uncertain while Broja, Fofana and Jackson are still very young and in their development phase.
The Blues have struggled for a world-class striker for a long time now and lack of proven goalscorers was a key reason behind their 12th-placed finish last season. We will have to wait and see whether Pochettino manages to address the glaring issue.
The Blues have been quite active in the transfer market this time out and have made two new signings in the form of Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku.
There have been several major exits from Stamford Bridge with players like Kai Havertz, Mason Mount, N'Golo Kante, Kalidou Koulibaly, Mateo Kovacic, Edouard Mendy, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, and Cesar Azpilicueta leaving the club.
Chelsea want at least £40 million for Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea reportedly want at least £40 million for Romelu Lukaku as they look to cut their losses on the Belgian. As per The Evening Standard's Nizaar Kinsella, the Blues are looking to part ways with Lukaku and have slapped an asking price of £40 million on the former Manchester United attacker.
According to Kinsella, Lukaku could end up at Juventus or Al-Hilal should Inter fail to meet Chelsea's asking price. Fabrizio Romano reported on Thursday (July 6) that Inter Milan are looking to bring back Lukaku to the club on loan. However, the Blues are only interested in a permanent deal.
Speaking about the move, Inter's sporting director Piero Ausilio said (via Fabrizio Romano):
"Lukaku knows we want him back here. We’re trying to find a solution. He’s at Chelsea and we are in contact — they told us that he’s NOT available on loan. We are exploring conditions for a permanent move, let’s see later in the window."
Lukaku a season-long loan spell with Inter Milan last season and also represented the Nerazzurri between 2019 and 2021 prior to his £97.5 million move to Chelsea. He had a season to forget as he bagged only 15 goals in 44 games for the Blues. Moreover, he landed himself in controversey during an interview with Sky Italia by speaking against the manager's tactics and expresseing he'd have prefered to stay back at Inter Milan instead of joining Chelsea.
He has made a total of 132 appearances for the Serie A side scoring scoring 78 goals and providing 23 assists in the process. Lukaku ended the last season with 14 goals in 37 appearances for Inter Milan.