‘No plans to keep him’ – Pochettino confirms Chelsea will sell £57m player
Romelu Lukaku joined AS Roma for the campaign and has scored 11 goals in all competitions since arriving at the Stadio Olimpico.
However, despite his fine form, Fabrizio Romano has claimed on Substack that Chelsea have “no plans to keep” him.
The Blues are likely to sell the striker next summer, with the Evening Standard having reported last month that they are willing to let him go for £37m.
There is not an option to recall Lukaku from his current loan at Roma. So even if Chelsea wanted to bring the Belgian back to the club in January to address their issues up front, they would not be able to.
If Mauricio Pochettino can talk to Lukaku and convince him to stay, then yes.
Chelsea have a striker problem, with Nicolas Jackson and Armando Broja both inexperienced and inconsistent, and Lukaku could fix it. The Belgium international is one of the best goalscorers in Europe. He could end up saving the club millions.
The only issue, however, is the fact that Lukaku himself does not want to be at Stamford Bridge, hence his recent loan moves to Roma and Inter Milan, while Chelsea clearly do not see him as an option.
They signed Jackson in the last transfer window and are looking to buy a new No.9 in January. Brentford’s Ivan Toney is one centre-forward who is being heavily linked with a move to the Blues.
Ultimately, if Lukaku indicated that he would actually be willing to come back to west London and remain there, keeping hold of him could make a lot of sense, especially if Chelsea cannot get one of their top striker targets now. But if not, there is no point forcing the former Inter and Manchester star to stay.
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