Romelu Lukaku will return to Chelsea in the summer after a hugely underwhelming second spell with Inter this season and will not be returning to San Siro next season as confirmed by reports on Monday morning.
The 29-year-old Belgian striker’s return has not gone to plan and has only scored three goals in 18 Serie A appearances this season, two of which came from the penalty spot. His last non-penalty goal in the league came in the season opener against Lecce back in August.
On top of his lacklustre numbers in front of goal, the economic figures behind Lukaku’s loan spell with the Nerazzurri has also been a concern for the club’s management.
As detailed in Tuttomercato, Inter will have paid Belgium’s record goalscorer €11m gross for the season, which would be €15 million if his salary wasn’t being subsidised by parent club Chelsea.
There was also the small matter of an €8 million loan fee paid to Chelsea for the season, plus €5 million in additional bonuses.
That means Inter could have forked out up to €24 million for Lukaku’s seven goals across all competitions this season, which would equate to around €3.4 million per goal.
Lukaku will also turn 30 in May and is still contracted to Chelsea until the summer of 2026, and given that he signed for the West Londoners for €113 million just under two years ago, a permanent move for the Belgian is unlikely.