Chelsea allowed Romelu Lukaku to leave Stamford Bridge on loan for a second successive season in the summer as he reunited with Jose Mourinho at Roma
Roma are weighing up offering Tammy Abraham in a direct swap deal to sign Romelu Lukaku from Chelsea next summer. Mauricio Pochettino has made it clear that Lukaku is no longer a part of his plans at Stamford Bridge after he was left out the Blues’ pre-season tour ahead of the 2023/24 campaign and told to train separately from the first team squad.
Lukaku returned to Italy on loan for a second successive season as he reunited with Jose Mourinho at Roma. Abraham suffered a serious knee injury during the summer which left the Italian outfit searching for a new striker.
Abraham left Chelsea to join Roma in 2021 – just days after Lukaku returned to Stamford Bridge for a whopping ยฃ97.5million – with the Blues inserting a buy-back clause into the English striker’s contract. Now, it seems Roma are willing to sanction Abraham’s exit next summer if they can bring Lukaku in on a permanent deal in a direct swap deal.
The west London club are said to have reached an agreement with Lukaku that they will sell him next summer should they receive a fixed fee of ยฃ37million. Chelsea are prioritising adding a new striker to Pochettino’s squad in 2024 after Armando Broja and Nicolas Jackson have struggled to show they can score consistently.
A report in Calciomercato outlines that Roma are seeking an alternative to paying the ยฃ37million fee upfront to sign Lukaku and could offer Abraham instead. The 26-year-old netted 30 goals in a season-and-a-half at Chelsea, following multiple prolific loan spells away from Stamford Bridge.
Abraham bagged a stunning 27 goals in his debut season in Rome, but struggled in the second campaign, netting just nine times in 54 matches. Ivan Toney and Victor Osimhen have both been heavily linked with moves to Chelsea in recent months – but Abraham’s return could solve the Blues’ problem in attack while getting Lukaku off their wage bill.
About The Author
