Despite a thunderous return to Serie A at the beginning of the 2023-24 season, Romelu Lukaku’s form in front of goal has begun to dip, but that is not the only reason why Roma are unlikely to turn the Belgian’s loan deal into a permanent signing from Chelsea this summer, reports claim.
Following a rollercoaster transfer saga that involved all of Chelsea, Inter, Juventus and Roma last summer, Lukaku found himself at the Stadio Olimpico for the 2023-24 campaign, and immediately hit the ground running, notching seven goals in his first seven games in all competitions, including five in Serie A and two in the Europa League.
Since October, however, those numbers have taken a bit of a hit and Lukaku has now scored just eight times in his last 21 appearances. His league tally consists of four goals from his last 15 appearances.
Though still certainly a handy player to have in the squad for coach Daniele De Rossi, the reported price tag means that Roma are unlikely to make Lukaku’s loan deal from Chelsea permanent in the summer.
It is reported that Roma will need to pay Chelsea a fee of €43m in order to sign Lukaku in the summer, which, given the Giallorossi’s financial difficulties in the transfer market, is almost impossible without selling some of their current players first.
Additionally, Roma also still have Tammy Abraham in their squad, who is around a month away from making a return from his long-term knee injury according to reports from Calciomercato.com.
Abraham was stretchered off in Roma’s penultimate game of the 2022-23 campaign, and had been tipped to return to the Premier League for a significant sum last summer, but the situation has changed since then.
Roma could look to utilise the striker that they actually own when he returns to full fitness, Calciomercato claims.
#Roma, #Lukaku in crisi: poche chance per il riscatto https://t.co/e1ofpgHMFo
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) February 13, 2024