It has been reported by Italian football journalist Alfredo Pedulla that Tottenham Hotspur have begun talks over the potential signing of Chelsea forward Romelu Lukaku.
According to a report published in Gazzetta dello Sport, Chelsea would want a fee of around 45 million euros for the Belgian striker and Spurs have decided to ‘test the water’ with just over three weeks of the summer transfer window to go.
Lukaku has been training apart from the squad at Cobham and did not travel with The Blues to the United States for their pre-season tour. After returning to the club in 2021, he endured a difficult season before returning to Inter on loan last year.
The 30 year-old Antwerp-born forward has been the subject of interest from Juventus this summer, with the clubs reportedly discussing a swap deal involving Lukaku and Dusan Vlahovic. It had been expected he would once again return to Inter but Inter were unhappy with Lukaku’s behaviour towards them earlier this summer and decided to pull out of a move.
He began his career with Anderlecht before a move to Chelsea in 2011. After moving to Stamford Bridge, he spent seasons on loan at West Brom and Everton before joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2014. A £75 million move to Manchester United ended in 2019 when he signed for Inter and did win the 2020/21 Serie A title with I Nerazzuri.
Chelsea have already brought in around £250 million sales this summer with the likes of Mason Mount, Christian Pulisic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Kai Havertz, Mateo Kovacic and Ethan Ampadu moving on. As well as Lukaku, it is expected that Hakim Ziyech, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Malang Sarr all also depart.
As for Tottenham, this move follows the departure of Harry Kane for an initial fee of 100 million euros to Bayern Munich. Ange Postecoglu’s side have spent about £170 million with permanent deals being finalised for Pedro Porro and Dejan Kulusevski, whilst James Maddison, Guglielmo Vicario, Manor Solomon, Ashley Phillips, Micky van de Ven and Alejo Veliz have all arrived.
