Chelsea target boards private jet to complete blockbuster move - Reports
Romelu Lukaku has reportedly boarded a private jet to London to complete his move to Chelsea. The Inter Milan forward is very close to signing for the Blues, who could announce the move as early as this week.
Romelu Lukaku has been in fine form since moving to Inter Milan from Manchester United in the summer of 2019. He has scored 64 goals and provided 16 assists in 95 games for the Italian side. Lukaku also shone for Belgium in the recently concluded Euro 2020 tournament.
Over the course of the summer, he has been subjected to immense transfer speculation with Chelsea leading the race for his signature. After weeks of negotiation, it seems the Blues have finally closed in on a deal worth £97.5 million to sign the forward from Inter Milan.
The history between Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku
Chelsea and Romelu Lukaku go back a long way. The Blues signed a young Lukaku from Anderlecht back in 2011 for £18 million. He was hyped to be the next big star in European football, but failed to make his mark at Chelsea.
Over the next three years, he only played 15 games for the club and was loaned out twice - to Everton and West Brom. Lukaku's impressive loan spell at Goodison Park in 2013-14 led to him being signed by the Toffees for £28 million the following summer.
Lukaku impressed at Everton for the next three seasons before the Belgian's former club Chelsea showed interest in re-signing him. However, they were pipped by Manchester United, who paid a gigantic £75 million to land the striker in 2017.
Lukaku leaves England
His spell at Manchester United came to a bitter end in 2019. Lukaku was not in new Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's scheme of things, with the Red Devils selling the Belgian forward to Inter Milan for £66.75 million.
At Inter, he joined Antonio Conte, who transformed Lukaku into a world beater. Since 2019, he has chipped in with 0.84 G/A per game for Inter Milan. More importantly, he also helped Inter break Juventus' Scudetto dominance by lifting the Serie A trophy at the end of the 2020-21 season.
Is Lukaku returning to England?
His great form has reportedly seen Chelsea try to sign the player again. They have been desperate for a forward all summer. Chelsea failed to sign their first-choice target Erling Haaland due to Borussia Dortmund's unwillingness to sell their star man.
It saw Chelsea shift their focus to Lukaku, and the Blues are now ready to shell out a club-record fee of £97.5 million to sign their former player.
Latest reports have confirmed that Lukaku has completed the first part of the medical and is now flying to London to finalize the move, along with the remaining tests. Chelsea should ideally have announced their new signing in time for their first competitive game of the season - the UEFA Super Cup match against Villareal on 11th August.