Romelu Lukaku | Chelsea

Mike Smalling

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Worst signing of the season in terms of expectation, value and what was delivered?

Got to be up there
Probably. Grealish has delivered about the same relative to his price, but he wasn't meant to the missing piece of the puzzle like Lukaku.
 

Orc

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Worst signing of the season in terms of expectation, value and what was delivered?

Got to be up there
In a vacuum, absolutely. But we still finished the season where we were expected to by anyone sane. We were never in a million years going to win the title over City or Liverpool and most people predicted us to finish 3rd. So really, Lukaku being horrendous didn’t actually harm our season much.

He was also still our highest goal scorer in all comps. So while he vastly underperformed what we expected he wasn’t a complete and total embarrassment stats wise like Werner was for example.
 

Mb194dc

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The hope was his goals would push us up to the same level as City and Liverpool in the league, in fact we still finished 19 points behind City, same as the year before. Guess you can say we'd have finished 2nd on goal difference with our points and goals this year put in last years table. Getting 94 points to overall City this year was never happening for us even if Lukaku scored 10-20 more goals. City scored 23 more goals than us and conceded 7 fewer...

So we can console ourselves than him being rubbish largely didn't really matter anyway in terms of our league position...

We'll probably sell him back to Inter for about half what we paid, so hard to argue against being a pretty bad signing all things considered. Interesting to see who the new owners identify to replace with their analytics or whatever. Need at least 94 points next season win the title or even more I think.
 

mctrials23

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Secret agent Lukaku has done his job.

"Go to Chelsea Rom, remember how you played at United? Do that, then we will bring you back at the end of the season for half what we sold you for"

"OK boss, gotcha, fat Rom incoming, see ya in 12 months"
 

WeePat

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Inter really want him back. Chelsea are supposedly trying to get them to agree to a £17m loan fee now and £60m obligation to buy in 2023.

A deal like that I would snap their hands off and forget this disaster ever happened

Edit: here comes Bayern. Lukaku is in demand. Love to see it.
 
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ZolaWasMagic

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Inter really want him back. Chelsea are supposedly trying to get them to agree to a £17m loan fee now and £60m obligation to buy in 2023.

A deal like that I would snap their hands off and forget this disaster ever happened

Edit: here comes Bayern. Lukaku is in demand. Love to see it.
Bayern would be a decent move for him. I read this morning if Rom goes, Darwin Nunez could be on the way in. I rate Gabriel Jesus and he is available, I'd take him in a heartbeat, just as i would Sterling
 

WeePat

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Bayern would be a decent move for him. I read this morning if Rom goes, Darwin Nunez could be on the way in. I rate Gabriel Jesus and he is available, I'd take him in a heartbeat, just as i would Sterling
Forget those guys. I'd integrate Broja, have and him and Kai as the strikers and call it a day. Let's spend our resources this summer on other areas in the squad.
 

McGrathsipan

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There is just an air of an insufferable arsehole around lukaku.
For all the hype he is just not that good
 

::sonny::

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Inter really want him back. Chelsea are supposedly trying to get them to agree to a £17m loan fee now and £60m obligation to buy in 2023.

A deal like that I would snap their hands off and forget this disaster ever happened

Edit: here comes Bayern. Lukaku is in demand. Love to see it.
Don’t think Inter would pay that fee for a loan, no more than 3/5 million
 

::sonny::

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Agreement between Lukaku and Inter, but they don’t want/can pay nothing.
So now it’s all on Lukaku to force the exit with something like refusing to train and play, he has to find the solution, it’s all on him now

 

Dave Smith

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Agreement between Lukaku and Inter, but they don’t want/can pay nothing.
So now it’s all on Lukaku to force the exit with something like refusing to train and play, he has to find the solution, it’s all on him now

I suspect there is still money outstanding for him. I expect that they'll get him on loan and some of the monies owed on the transfer fee will be forgiven. How much that will be is anyones guess.
 

Orc

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May be a swap with Lautaro ?
Inter apparently want Lukaku back and are in pole position for Dybala. I suppose that does mean Martinez could be on the move. But I’m not sure if we’re interested in him.
 

Powderfinger

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Inter really want him back. Chelsea are supposedly trying to get them to agree to a £17m loan fee now and £60m obligation to buy in 2023.

A deal like that I would snap their hands off and forget this disaster ever happened
That seems extremely unlikely.

Inter are reportedly being forced to sell one of their prize jewels (Bastoni, Lautaro, Skriniar) this summer because they need to raise funds. Why would they give a bunch of that money back immediately in a massive loan fee, much less commit to give the rest of it back (and more) with an obligated buy for an aging striker on huge wages?

Marotta is a very savvy operator in the transfer market. My guess is that he will take Lukaku only if he can loan him for a year relatively cheaply, especially as this might smooth things out if they sell Lautaro.
 

WeePat

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That seems extremely unlikely.

Inter are reportedly being forced to sell one of their prize jewels (Bastoni, Lautaro, Skriniar) this summer because they need to raise funds. Why would they give a bunch of that money back immediately in a massive loan fee, much less commit to give the rest of it back (and more) with an obligated buy for an aging striker on huge wages?

Marotta is a very savvy operator in the transfer market. My guess is that he will take Lukaku only if he can loan him for a year relatively cheaply, especially as this might smooth things out if they sell Lautaro.
Why would Chelsea do that though? A deal has to at least pretend to be somewhat amendable to both sides, even if one side is getting the better end of the deal. Stories out of Italy say Inter and Lukaku's people have been on contact and he's willing to take a 50% pay cut to go back there. If Inter are as unwilling as you say, then I doubt Lukaku goes anywhere.
 

Andycoleno9

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Where is any logic in this? You payed him over 100 million and now you are giving him for free just to save money from his salary?
Next year at this time he will be 30. Inter surely will not buy him for 50-60 mil.
Similiar (not on this level of course) as our situation with AWB and Palace. You cut your losses and sell him for half price. Or use him
 

Andycoleno9

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If that's the case I will snap their hands off. We will happily accept the loss with him and move on instead of keeping him unhappy in dressing room may not be a wise move. If we get some 60mn back for him then that's more than good enough at present circumstances.
You really expect that club from Italy will pay that sum? They just throw those clauses for fun. Lazio accepted 30 mil clause for our Pereira, ffs.
 

Powderfinger

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Why would Chelsea do that though? A deal has to at least pretend to be somewhat amendable to both sides, even if one side is getting the better end of the deal. Stories out of Italy say Inter and Lukaku's people have been on contact and he's willing to take a 50% pay cut to go back there. If Inter are as unwilling as you say, then I doubt Lukaku goes anywhere.
It definitely might not make sense for Chelsea. But Inter might figure that Chelsea are a wealthy club that could be willing to do a relatively simple loan just to get him out of the side and remove the distraction, especially if they can save the wages. That's the basis of a lot of loan moves.
 

Bluelion7

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A 20 million loan fee would be almost exactly the amortized yearly payment amount we owe them. 60 million fee after that would cover the remainder of the amortized payments. It’s either being set up that way very intentionally, or sone reporters can do basic math after using google and are trying to look smart.
The money for the amortized payments was already paid on by Roman to the holding company he used to funnel “debt” to the club though. So unless that money is frozen from use by the club, idk that Chelsea need to clear anything to come even with Lukaku. It’s not like it’s being paid back to Abramovich, or like it came out of the operating budget of the club.
I wouldn’t expect them to get so much for Lukaku. But a lot of his contract, with both clubs, was tied up in “personal branding” from what I understand. So I wouldn’t expect sitting on the bench taking a check to be high on his list either.
 

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You really expect that club from Italy will pay that sum? They just throw those clauses for fun. Lazio accepted 30 mil clause for our Pereira, ffs.
They still can't get Lukaku like player for them for that money. He played well for them and still they earned some 50 mn from that deal. So i don't think there is a problem for them.

As I said if they like the deal chelsea will be happy to accept the loss and move on. At least we can't keep player like him unhappy in the dressing room and both could move on. We learnt a hard lesson by kept Torres and try to make him the player he was.
 

Andycoleno9

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They still can't get Lukaku like player for them for that money. He played well for them and still they earned some 50 mn from that deal. So i don't think there is a problem for them.

As I said if they like the deal chelsea will be happy to accept the loss and move on. At least we can't keep player like him unhappy in the dressing room and both could move on. We learnt a hard lesson by kept Torres and try to make him the player he was.
IF they refuse now to pay 10-15 mil thrn surely year later they will not spend 50 on 30y old striker. They have money issues, remember?
 

Powderfinger

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IF they refuse now to pay 10-15 mil thrn surely year later they will not spend 50 on 30y old striker. They have money issues, remember?
They also were the highest scoring team in Serie A, already have four strikers under contract for next year (Lautaro, Dzeko, Sanchez, Correa), and are reportedly in the running to sign Dybala on a free.

I think they'd look at Lukaku if the deal was great from their perspective but it seems highly unlikely they'd spend a lot of money on an area that isn't even a need given their financial problems.
 

Rajiztar

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IF they refuse now to pay 10-15 mil thrn surely year later they will not spend 50 on 30y old striker. They have money issues, remember?
Presumably they don't screw deals with chelsea. Deals won't be happened if they think it won't be worth to do. So we can see.
 

WeePat

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It definitely might not make sense for Chelsea. But Inter might figure that Chelsea are a wealthy club that could be willing to do a relatively simple loan just to get him out of the side and remove the distraction, especially if they can save the wages. That's the basis of a lot of loan moves.
That would make zero sense for Chelsea. Don't think Inter would enter into negotiations with a pipedream that they can just have Lukaku back for basically nothing. Despite the disastrous season, he's still a good striker in his prime. If they can't afford him, they can't afford him. A £3m loan deal with no obligation only suits Inter. A deal with an obligation to buy to be paid over several installments would probably be the best deal they could hope for that Chelsea would actually agree to.
 

ShoePolish

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They still can't get Lukaku like player for them for that money. He played well for them and still they earned some 50 mn from that deal. So i don't think there is a problem for them.

As I said if they like the deal chelsea will be happy to accept the loss and move on. At least we can't keep player like him unhappy in the dressing room and both could move on. We learnt a hard lesson by kept Torres and try to make him the player he was.
He played well for Conte though, who's no longer there. I think he won't be hitting same heights like he did before over there, just remains to be seen if he's going to be enough of a donkey for Inter to realize he ain't worth paying 60 mil for.
 

Rajiztar

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He played well for Conte though, who's no longer there. I think he won't be hitting same heights like he did before over there, just remains to be seen if he's going to be enough of a donkey for Inter to realize he ain't worth paying 60 mil for.
Well its upto inter to say how much he is worth. Chelsea are not here to push his rate up. They may rate him for 60 mn or go away from chelsea proposal.

He has plenty of suitors and atletico also enquired about him and rumour to be believed Bayern too.

He may not worth 100 mn what chelsea paid for but certainly worth 60 mn. That's what we expect for him any way. So moving him away not a big problem for us.
 

Dave Smith

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That would make zero sense for Chelsea. Don't think Inter would enter into negotiations with a pipedream that they can just have Lukaku back for basically nothing. Despite the disastrous season, he's still a good striker in his prime. If they can't afford him, they can't afford him. A £3m loan deal with no obligation only suits Inter. A deal with an obligation to buy to be paid over several installments would probably be the best deal they could hope for that Chelsea would actually agree to.
Madr zero sense why Chelsea brought him in the first place, so not sure why this is seemingly improbable.
 

WeePat

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Madr zero sense why Chelsea brought him in the first place, so not sure why this is seemingly improbable.
So you think Chelsea will make a £97m mistake and then compound that mistake by practically giving him away for free 12 months later?