Chelsea to Inter: You can have Lukaku for two years

Chelsea have an agreement in principle for Romelu Lukaku to remain at Inter Milan for a second year on loan.

The £97.5 million club-record signing, who moved to Chelsea from Inter last summer, returned to the San Siro after experiencing a turbulent first campaign on and off the field at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea’s new owners acted swiftly in reaching an agreement to let Lukaku go back to Inter for a season-long loan and it is understood that the deal includes an extra year in principle.

Some at Chelsea do not expect to see the Belgium striker play for the club again after a season in which he had to record a video apology to fans and colleagues for a controversial interview.

Lukaku, 29, was desperate to return to Inter and did an interview with Sky Italia in December expressing his desire to one day play for the club again after saying he was “not happy” with his role at Chelsea. Lukaku also said the playing system at Chelsea had changed, a claim head coach Thomas Tuchel rejected.

Speaking in Los Angeles on pre-season tour last week, Tuchel said that “given the constructs of a loan, there is a possibility” that Lukaku, who signed a five-year contract at Chelsea, plays for the club again.

“There has never been a meeting where I said, like, ‘I want this guy out,’ ” Tuchel said. “I was always clear: if he stays, we will do everything to put him in a better place, to put him in better shape, to improve my style of coaching, our style of playing, to make him a better fit. It was always a possibility he stayed but Romelu made it very clear he wants to leave and the owners took the decision to make the decision straight away.

 “I am not happy that we couldn’t bring more out of him. Maybe it would have just taken a bit more time, a bit more fitness, a bit more, like, stiffness, adaption in our game. Who knows? But we will now not find out. Once Romelu gave his clear opinion on the situation and there was a solution on the table the owners made their choice and had my blessing.”

Lukaku spoke directly with Todd Boehly, the new part-owner and acting sporting director at Chelsea, about leaving the club this summer and the move was finalised at the end of June.

The signing of Lukaku last summer was considered the missing piece of the puzzle for Chelsea who had won the Champions League in Tuchel’s first six months as coach but were aiming to compete with Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League.

Yet Lukaku only managed 15 goals during the last campaign, still finishing as the team’s top scorer, but was often starting on the substitutes’ bench