AS Roma, Chelsea agree Romelu Lukaku loan — reports

Romelu Lukaku reuniting with José Mourinho, the man who put the kibosh on his career twice already, first at Chelsea a long time ago, then again at Manchester United half a decade later, seemed a rather unlikely proposition even after Lukaku burned his bridges at Chelsea, Inter, and Juventus as well.

But in the words of Fabrizio Romano, here we go! Big Rom and The Special One, third time the charm?

As first reported by the Telegraph’s Matt Law, Chelsea and AS Roma have agreed season-long loan with a fee of “over £5m” and with Roma also covering Lukaku’s wages after the 30-year-old had agreed to reduce them. Lukaku made a similar concession for last year’s arrangement with Inter Milan as well, but just like with that deal, there is are no further obligations or options built into the deal.

One interesting wrinkle, however, is that not only has Lukaku agreed to restructure the rest of his Chelsea contract at his lower wage, we have also inserted a £37m release clause into it, which might make the inevitable song and dance rerun next summer a bit less tortuous. (Assuming Lukaku does well enough to justify such a fee.)

Solid work, given the circumstances and the lack of options. Lukaku will take up a foreign loan slot, but that’s a relatively small price to pay. (Lesley Ugochukwu apparently set to stay as a result, which also isn’t the worst outcome.)