‘Wait and speak’: Inter, Chelsea to talk Lukaku ... at some point

Romelu Lukaku and his un-shiny second place medal are coming back to Chelsea in a few weeks’ time, when the 30-year-old striker’s loan at Inter Milan officially ends at the end of the month.

What happens after that, no one really knows.

It’s quite clear that he wants to stay in Italy. And it’s quite clear that Inter aren’t quite as convinced.

It’s not quite clear what Chelsea might want, though we might have our hands tied to some degree. Lukaku tends to get what Lukaku wants, and it would certainly be unwise to force him to stay with us if he doesn’t want to (anymore/again).

Before Saturday’s Champions League final, Inter CEO Beppe Marotta explained the situation thusly.

“Romelu Lukaku is not only a good player but also an excellent professional. As you know he is on a loan deal with Inter. That ends on June 30 and he will go back to Chelsea. We don’t know what his future will be. Further down the line we will talk about it with Chelsea.”

-Giuseppe Marotta: source: Daily Mail

After Saturday’s Champions League final, Inter president Steven Zhang explained the situation quite similarly:

“Romelu loves Inter, that’s very clear. He’s great guy but he’s under contract at Chelsea. We have to wait and speak to Chelsea to make Lukaku’s future clear.”

-Steven Zhang; source: Evening Standard

So there you have it. I guess we’ll go for a chat at some point, and talks about eggs in baskets. Oh wait, that’s a different show. But we’ll go for a chat.

And then we’ll see. (A discount on André Onana would work for me.)