Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku will reportedly return to Chelsea at the end of his loan spell at the San Siro stadium, despite his desire to remain in Italy beyond the summer.
The Belgian striker, who joined Chelsea from Inter in the summer of 2021 for £98m, returned to the Serie A side on loan at the start of the season after a lack of form and absence from the squad at Stamford Bridge.
However, his loan move to Milan has not gone to plan, as the 29-year-old finds himself at the team’s periphery due to a lack of consistency and fitness. He has scored just seven goals in 24 games and missed significant periods of the season through injury.
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And, now Italian outlet Gazzetta dello Sport via Sportsmail are reporting that Lukaku will return to Chelsea this summer ‘against his will’ due to Inter being unable to afford another move’s potential cost.
As per the report, Inter are under financial pressure, having recorded losses of €784m (£694m) over the last ten years, and they have an annual operating loss of about €150m (£133m).
As a result, the Italian outfit will have to make savings this summer and given Lukaku’s lack of meaningful contribution after signing him back for an €8m (£6.9m) loan fee, plus covering a significant portion of his wages; the club want to cut their losses.
The report says that Lukaku would like to stay at the club where he scored 64 goals in 95 games between 2019-2021 and is willing to take a pay cut. But Inter are already preparing for a future without him.
Lukaku has scored crucial goals in recent times, including the decisive effort in their 1-0 aggregate victory over Porto in the Champions League last-16, while he also netted in their 2-0 win over Benfica in the first leg of the quarter-final last week.
