Chelsea
will submit an improved offer to sign their former striker Romelu Lukaku
from Inter Milan after an £85m bid was rejected.
Chelsea remain determined to sign Lukaku despite Inter having rejected a
second offer for the Belgian, which would have also seen left-back Marcos
Alonso move to the Serie A club, according to Sky in Italy.
The reigning European champions had already seen a first offer rebuffed by
Inter and it is understood that neither proposal has so far made the Italian
club change their mind about selling Lukaku.
Chelsea are determined to re-sign the 28-year-old Belgium international and
an offer of between £94m (€110m) and £102m (€120m) could convince Inter
chairman Steven Zhang to sell.
Inter need to reduce their wage bill this summer and title-winning boss
Antonio Conte left the club in May amid concerns about plans to cut his
budget.
However, Lukaku is very happy and settled at Inter and ready to give his all
next season.
After finishing in UEFA's official team of Euro 2020, he went on holiday to
the Caribbean and the USA, where he stuck rigidly to his personal training
programme.
He is back training with Inter now and is fully focused on the new campaign.
Chelsea are determined to sign a world-class striker and their other main
target this summer has been Borussia Dortmund's Erling Haaland.
Lukaku previously spent three years at Chelsea after signing from Anderlecht
as a teenager in 2011.
However, he made only 15 appearances for the club - failing to score a goal
- before moving to Everton for £28m in July 2014.
He was close to a return in July 2017 but opted to join Manchester United
for £75m. Inter signed him from United for £73m two years ago.
'Inter would carefully consider improved
bid'
Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol:
"Chelsea are offering serious money but at the moment, it's not serious
enough as far as Inter Milan are concerned. The good news if you're a
Chelsea supporter is that your club are absolutely determined to re-sign
Lukaku. The figure I think it would take to get him is around 120m euros.
"Bear in mind this is a player they signed 10 years ago from Anderlecht for
around 10m euros. What we know already is that Chelsea have made two serious
bids for the player with the second worth around 100m euros, including the
left-back Marcos Alonso moving in the opposite direction.
"These offers haven't been good enough, but I'm told that if Chelsea come
back in and offer 110m-120m euros then Inter will consider it very
carefully."
Why would Lukaku leave Milan?
Sky Sports News' Kaveh Solhekol:
"As far as the player is concerned, Lukaku is 100 per cent committed and
focused on doing his job at Inter Milan.
"He loves playing at Inter, he is not going to kick up a fuss, and his
attitude has been exemplary. Antonio Conte's departure doesn't concern
Lukaku because he's been rejuvenated since joining the club.
"Why would he leave Inter Milan? He's in the form of his life. Two years
ago, he moved from Manchester United to Italy and his time at Inter has been
spectacularly successful. I've never seen him look fitter, I've never seen
him look leaner, he's got a special diet and a nutritionist.
"He helped Inter win the title last season, his goalscoring record in Italy
has been incredible and was the Serie A player of the year. He's settled at
Inter, but Chelsea are the European champions at the moment. If something
like that was put in front of the player, it's something he'd have to
consider.
"If he was to leave Inter, I'm told it wouldn't be motivated by money but
purely for sporting reasons. He's still ambitious and he wants to be winning
the biggest prizes in the game and that includes the Champions League. At
Chelsea he'd have a good chance of doing that."
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