Lukaku medical set for Sunday, Chelsea arrival to follow ‘within 24 hours’ — report

Barring any last minute and unexpected shenanigans or drama, Romelu Lukaku should be announced as a Chelsea player within the next 48 hours, probably on Monday — assuming we can get all the necessary media and social engagement bits in place by then.

On the business side, all our ducks seem to be in a row, with a fee (€115m), wages (€12-13m annually), and practically all other details agreed. Those numbers are slightly lower than reported in the days leading up to the agreement, though certainly not by a significant margin. It is indeed a club-record commitment to our former striker, with expectations to match.

Lukaku, who’s been training with Inter Milan still in the meantime, is reportedly heading to Belgium for a medical tomorrow (Sunday), and then will continue on to London either that night or the following morning. Both Belgium and Italy are on the UK’s “amber list”, which means that a COVID test must be taken 3 days before travel and 2 days after arrival, but there’s no need to quarantine if fully vaccinated (10 days otherwise).

The Athletic’s David Ornstein adds that Chelsea have been “determined” to get things done by Sunday night, which would give Lukaku a week to prepare for the season and would also make him eligible for the UEFA Super Cup should we so choose (the squad registration deadline for that is 24 hours prior to kick-off on Tuesday).