Chelsea are reportedly set to record a massive £60m loss on a striker they bought three years ago after a difficult three years at Stamford Bridge.
The Blues, who are currently in the market for a player who can guarantee more goals than the current duo of Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja are also desperate to offload unwanted players, including Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku.
Lukaku has been in Chelsea’s books since 2021 after he arrived in London for a then-club record fee of £98m Inter Milan in 2021. But things did not go according to plan for the 30-year-old as he endured a miserable campaign and criticised manager Thomas Tuchel in a bombshell interview.
He returned to Inter on loan last season but is now on loan at Roma after failing to secure a permanent move to Inter Milan last summer.
Chelsea are now desperately looking to sell him in the next transfer window and are willing to take a huge hit in their asking price to achieve that.
According to Italian outlet Calciomercato, the Blues will demand just €43m (£37m) for the Belgian meaning that Chelsea will record a loss of more than £60m.
With no other clubs currently keen on his services, Lukaku could remain in Roma, where he has impressed since his move, scoring 15 goals in 26 appearances.
But his wages could also be an issue for the Italian club, with the forward’s Chelsea contract, which is due to expire in 2026 – believed to be worth around £10m-a-year.
There is a possibility that he would be happy to swap Europe for the Middle East, despite turning down a move to Saudi Arabia last summer to return to Italy. Roma faced Al-Shabab in a friendly in Riyadh earlier this week, and the striker praised the strength of the Saudi Pro League, claiming it can become ‘one of the best in the world’ over the coming years.
