Chelsea, Inter Milan to meet halfway for Romelu Lukaku loan fee — reports

Official talks are reportedly underway between Chelsea and Inter Milan and any and all intermediaries and agents and representatives for the return (of the return) of Romelu Lukaku to Inter Milan, and these initial talks appear to have been quite positive. We don’t have a deal yet for the expected loan back, but we (as in Chelsea) seem quite willing to compromise and make it happen for the (sporting) benefit of all involved — perhaps as soon as this week.

According to multiple reports late Wednesday, the “feeling” is that a loan fee of around €12-15m (£10-12m) would do the trick, with Inter presumably still picking up the full (albeit willingly reduced) burden of Lukaku’s salary. Chelsea were said to be wanting a loan fee twice that amount at first, with Inter offering half that amount to begin with. So we’ll meet halfway in some good-faith bit of negotiations. Huzzah!

No one’s talking multi-year loan at the minute, so I guess it’s just for the one year for now. We’ll see if there are any token buy-option amounts included that would be unlikely to be picked up anyway. (Look forward to this dance in every summer to come from here on through 2026.)