The ball is once again in Chelsea’s court. Fabrizio Romano had reported that talks with Juventus regarding the swap plus cash deal of Vlahovic and Lukaku were off as the Blues were unwilling to pay the €40 million fee demanded by the Bianconeri
Fraser Fletcher of Football Insider, however, reports that the Italian giants are still keen to press ahead with this transfer after Romelu Lukaku agreed personal terms with them. Whether Chelsea have any interest in heading back to the negotiating table is doubtful unless Juve agree to lower their demands, considering that the Blues have just spent an absurd amount of money on Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia.
With less than two weeks to go until the European transfer window closes, there is a danger that the Lukaku transfer saga may not get resolved in time, though Chelsea may feel reassured knowing that the Saudi window will remain open – even if the Belgian has thus far rejected any and all approaches from the Middle East.
The Lukaku saga
The saga surrounding the Belgian has been going on for months. Inter, with whom Lukaku spent last season on loan, were keen to re-sign him, but they did not have the requisite funds to match Chelsea’s asking price outright.
They offered to once again take him on loan with an obligation to buy further down the line, but the London club want to get their €113m man off the books this summer. The Nerrazzuri eventually pulled out of the deal when it was revealed that the Belgian had also been in talks with hated rivals Juventus.
The Bianconeri are in a similar financial position to Inter, however, and thus also offered a loan deal which was duly rejected. They sought to strike a compromise by adding Vlahovic to the package, but to no avail, thus far. Juve have also been accused of ‘tapping up’ Lukaku as early as March of this year, though nothing seems to have come of those allegations.
