Romelu Lukaku played for Inter last season Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)
As per the Times (subscription required), Inter Milan are preparing themselves to increase their offer to sign Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku in this transfer window.
Inter have had their initial bid of £23m rejected by the Blues as they want something in the region of £40m to sell the Belgian international. Juventus are also interested in signing him, but he would rather go to Inter than the Turin-based club.
Lukaku was on loan with Nerazzurri last season and had a good time there after a slow start. He scored 14 goals and assisted seven in 37 appearances in all competitions. Most of the appearances came off the bench and he played less than 2000 minutes in total as a result (Transfermarkt).
Chelsea paid £97.5m to Inter to sign the 30-year-old two years ago. His first season back at Stamford Bridge was a bit of a disaster. Hence, he was sent back on loan to San Siro last summer.
Lukaku has had offers from Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia. But, the Belgian has rejected them. It shows that he is waiting on Inter to increase their offer and sign him this summer.
It remains to be seen whether Nerazzurri match the demands of Chelsea and negotiate the price down. Knowing that the player is eager to leave Stamford Bridge, the former does have the cards stacked in their favour to push the price down at their level before completing this deal.
To be fair to Chelsea, they have done well in earning money through player sales this summer. They have stuck with their demands in most of those deals and got very close to what they initially wanted from the sale.
More of the same can be expected in the Lukaku situation. Inter may have no choice but to take the bid £40m to sign him.
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