Romelu Lukaku has completed his transfer to Chelsea for €115m (£97.5m) after just two seasons at Inter, making him the most expensive ever Serie A sale. ‘I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.’
He had the first part of his medical in Milan on Monday morning, then flew out from Linate Airport in a private jet, telling reporters he would release a message for the Inter fans “over the next few days.”
The player and his agent stopped off in Monaco before arriving in London on Wednesday and was announced at Stamford Bridge this evening, after Chelsea beat Villarreal on penalties to win the European Super Cup.
The 28-year-old made 95 competitive appearances in the Inter jersey, scoring 64 goals and providing 16 assists, including a decisive role in taking the club to the Scudetto last season and the Europa League Final the year before that.
“I’m happy and blessed to be back at this wonderful club,” Lukaku told the official Chelsea website.
“It’s been a long journey for me: I came here as a kid who had a lot to learn, now I’m coming back with a lot of experience and more mature.
“The relationship I have with this club means so much to me, as you know. I have supported Chelsea as a kid and now to be back and try to help them win more titles is an amazing feeling.
“The way the club is going fits my ambitions perfectly at 28 and just coming off winning Serie A. I think this opportunity comes at the right time and hopefully we can have a lot of success together.
“Since I left Chelsea, it’s been a long journey with a lot of ups and downs, but these experiences made me strong and the challenge is to try to help the team win some more trophies. I can’t wait to get started and to help the club achieve more success.”
This represents a return to Chelsea, as the club owned him from 2011 to 2014, going on loan to West Bromwich Albion and then sold to Everton.
He ultimately made just 15 appearances for Chelsea in all competition, failing to score a goal.
“FC Internazionale Milano can officially announce the transfer of Romelu Lukaku to Chelsea. The Belgian striker, 28, has moved to the London club on a permanent basis,” read a statement.
“The club would like to thank Romelu for the two seasons spent with us, which culminated in winning the 19th league title in Inter’s history.
“We wish Romelu all the best in his future challenges.”
According to Sportitalia, Lukaku will receive a contract worth €15m per season, plus a €3m signing-on fee.
Manchester United are expected to pocket €5-6m as their cut of the fee, having sold the Belgium international to Inter for €74m plus €4m in bonuses in 2019.
The Nerazzurri are sticking to the original payment schedule for that transfer, so nothing else changes for Manchester United in when they will receive the full sum.
Angry Inter ultras defaced the mural honouring Lukaku that is just outside the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in the San Siro area of Milan.
It had read: ‘Dear Milano, you’re welcome’ but they sprayed black paint over everything except ‘Milano’, including the back of his jersey with name and number.
Welcome home, @RomeluLukaku9. 💙#LukWhosBack pic.twitter.com/P43CAIVqfU
— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) August 12, 2021
Have to say Inter have been really weak when it comes to negotiating transfers. They gave Man Utd the exact amount they wanted for Lukaku and yet sold him to Chelsea at a discount. The fact that Inter accepted less for Lukaku than Man City had to pay for Jack Grealish just goes to show the level to which Serie A has fallen financially compared to the PL where a single-club player with no experience in European competition commands more money than a seasoned player who has experience and success at multiple PL clubs and playing in European competition, in most cases being the centrepiece at his various clubs.
Pretty bad. Inter is embarassing. And the repalcements? A bunch of discounted nobodies. It’s time for fans to boycott this league or campaign for a merger of most leagues not in England. La Liga top 5, Ligue 1 top 5, serie a top 5 etc because at this rate the product being produced inevitably is going to fall HARD.
Time for serie a fans to boycott this league and push for a merger of the top leagues not in england. Tops 5 of serie a, ligue 1, La Liga and Germany. Merge all of the lower divisions with relegation etc.
Inter finally has a world class player and they sell to replace with nobodies. JOKE.
115m for a 28yo isn’t a bad price. The problem is the rubbish that’s coming into Serie A to replace the players leaving.
Look at the players who left this summer – it’s shocking. And Vlahovic looks to be next. Martinez too, maybe.
This is the worst mercato I can remember for a long time.
As Karim said, something needs to be done. TV companies won’t want much to do with a selling league, and who’ll want to watch it?
Some sort of reins needs to be put on these oil clubs who can spend what they want while others go broke.
Expect epl domination in Europe in the near (and maybe far) future. Who can honestly see Serie A doing anything in Europe?
Ferban is correct. We need to not only look at foreign players coming into the league, but we (and not just Inter) have to start promoting from within or purchase more Italian talent for that matter from other clubs who aren’t been given an opportunity at their respective clubs who do have the potential. Look at Zaniolo for one example?!
All too often we see some of the bigger Italian clubs letting Primavera talent being wasted because they prefer to buy foreign talent. How do we expect the Italian National team to stay on par with the powerhouse nations when there is a preference to purchase and play foreign players more often than not.
I’m certainly all for foreign players because we need foreign and Italian players to integrate and learn from one another, but i would like to see a Raspadori or a Scamacca been given an opportunity to show their worth. Otherwise, the Italian youngsters should perhaps start seeking pastures new abroad somewhere. Look at Jadon Sancho for example? Dortmund took him into their setup and now look at him!
I Heard that Lukaku wants to play round of 16 soccer in Champions League and since it’s been over 10 years since Inter played a round of 16 soccer in Champions League he imitated Inter fans and just gave that hope up because Inter failing to pass the Champions League group stage is almost a certainty !