Romelu Lukaku would be encouraged by Chelsea to accept an offer from Saudi Arabia as a last resort
As per a tweet from Ben Jacobs of CBS Sports, Chelsea will encourage striker Romelu Lukaku to take up an offer from a club in Saudi Arabia if a move to a European club does not materialise.
The Saudi transfer window remains open till September 7, six days more than the one in Europe. So, if the Belgian international remains at Chelsea after September 1, the Middle East would be the only possible departure route for him.
Lukaku is currently training separately from the first-team squad and is not in Mauricio Pochettino’s plans going forward. He was wanted by Inter Milan earlier in the window, but the Nerazzrurri withdrew their interest after knowing that he began talks with Juventus for a move.
It feels like a dubious situation where a striker on big wages is being employed by a club whose manager does not want to play him. What happens if he does not get a reasonable offer from any club in Europe or Saudi? Will Pochettino come under pressure to eventually get him back in the matchday squads? Possibly so.
Moreover, it is such a shame to see the 30-year-old being rendered unimportant by a big club. He is still a talented striker, but he has probably overestimated himself at times.
If need be, the Belgian needs to bite the bullet and accept an offer from Saudi (if nothing comes from the European side). Granted that the standard of the league in the Middle East isn’t that great for a player who is still at his peak age-wise, he can go there and perform well to attract the attention for a move back in a year or two time.
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For Chelsea, he must be off their books very soon. The experiment has not worked and the sooner both sides part ways the better.