Inter have pulled out of the race for Romelu Lukaku, giving Juventus free rein in negotiations, but picking up the Chelsea striker would not be a wise move, Apollo Heyes believes.
The 30-year-old Belgian striker is currently in a strange spot after the Nerazzurri’s decision to give up on signing him. The only serious suitors remaining are Juventus – who cannot make a move until selling Dusan Vlahovic – and clubs from Saudi Arabia like Al-Hilal.
A return to Chelsea seems incredibly unlikely for Lukaku. He has no interest in going back to West London and Mauricio Pochettino does not consider him a part of the project at the club going forward.
It seems then that the Belgian striker’s only hope to stay in Europe is a bid from Juventus, who would first need to find someone willing to pay €75-80m for Vlahovic. The Blues are not interested in a swap deal.
Whilst a move to Turin would suit Lukaku, the deal doesn’t appear to make too much sense for the Old Lady, who have spent the early stages of this summer desperately working to reduce their wage bill by trying to offload unneeded players like Arthur Melo, Denis Zakaria and Leonardo Bonucci.
Lukaku would command a star salary at Juventus, likely to make him one of the highest earners in the squad, and his arrival doesn’t seem to gel with the club’s project following the end of the Andrea Agnelli era.
The Bianconeri are supposedly looking to lower the average age in their squad, instead focusing on younger players with cheaper contracts, the polar opposite of the 30-year-old Belgian striker.
There’s also no guarantees that Juventus will secure a top four finish next season – with or without Lukaku – so picking up him on a heavy contract this summer would represent a serious risk, which seems like a bad move considering their various off-pitch issues last season.
There are rumours that Juventus may replace Massimiliano Allegri with Antonio Conte, which may explain some of their interest in the Belgian striker, but this is also hard to imagine, especially now that pre-season has started and the coach’s expensive contract.
Furthermore, there’s the Paul Pogba situation. The Bianconeri already have a luxury player on a hefty deal, and he missed the majority of his first season back due to various injuries. Lukaku also missed large portions of last term and Juventus cannot afford to have two players in this position.
Lukaku has clearly shown his true colours on a number of occasions throughout his career and Juventus should seriously reconsider their interest in him, lest they become his latest victim.
Words: @ApolloHeyes