Dubious rumors from a few days ago, about Chelsea approaching Romelu Lukaku with a generous contract and potentially offering Inter Milan €130m for him, have been given a bit of credence with Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere della Sera also jumping on the bandwagon — though still with the same negative outcome from our perspective.
Chelsea have apparently dialed up Big Rom’s number to present our proposal, which was “politely” rejected by our former striker prospect — despite a 30+ per cent wage rise on offer, from €7.5m to €10m annually. Lukaku has reportedly again made it clear to both Chelsea and Inter Milan that he’s happy to stay in Italy, and happy to keep repaying their faith in him after his experiences in the Premier League.
#Chelsea hold talks with Lukaku, offering him to return to #CFC. But Lukaku, till now, wants to stay at Inter.
— Angelo Mangiante (@angelomangiante) July 29, 2021
Lukaku, 28, sees his contract expire in June 2024. He joined Inter in a €74m move from #MCFC. With Inter he has scored 64 goals in 95 in two years. @SkySport #Tranfers https://t.co/7Sn5bs5YBq
Joining Lukaku in getting ruled out in our striker search yet again is Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski, though in his case, it’s the team who would be blocking the move rather than the player.
Bayern president Herbert Hainer to Spox: “Robert Levandowski will play for Bayern until June 2023. He has a contract and he’s staying here. We’re not looking for a new striker”, he told @kerry_hau. ⚪️ #Bayern #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2021
So, Erling Braut Haaland remains the only big-name centre forward whom we have an (infinitesimally small) chance of signing. Real Madrid could make a late play as well, although Borussia Dortmund’s strong stance and strong words would hardly make that a simple ordeal.
“In the conversations with Mino Raiola about the Malen transfer, I did not have the feeling that we would have to meet again soon about Erling. And we have already emphasized 1000 times that we do not want to give it up.”
-Sebastien Kehl; source: Sport Bild
Of course, a “madman’s” bid could change everything as we know it, but we are evidently not that desperate... yet.
Re: Haaland
— Jan Aage Fjortoft ️ (@JanAageFjortoft) July 28, 2021
Erling very professional talking to the press yesterday.
Then Sammer, the advisor to Dortmund-boss Watzke, said:
“I think he will stay, but you never know if a madman would pay 200 mill”
Like I said the whole time:
-Dortmund will sell if/when they get a crazy offer