7:30pm: Chelsea confirms £97m signing, as Blues accepted £34m bid for Chelsea attacker
Chelsea have finally confirmed the signing of Romelu Lukaku from Inter Milan, as the Blues sealed a £97.5m deal for the Belgian.
Chelsea simply released a statement, thus: “Romelu Lukaku is back in Chelsea blue!”
Lukaku completed the first part of his medical in Milan on Monday before flying to London to complete the paperwork for the deal and sign a five-year contract.
Lukaku returns to Stamford Bridge with a huge reputation after scoring 47 goals in 72 Serie A appearances. His 24 league goals last season helped Inter win the Serie A after 11 years.
Lukaku was close to signing for Chelsea in 2017, but ended up signing for Manchester United. But this time around, the Blues have got their man.
Welcome home Big Rom!
Blues accepted £34m bid for Chelsea attacker
Chelsea have reportedly accepted a bid of around £34million from Roma for the transfer of striker Tammy Abraham.
And according to a report from Goal, this deal could also include an option for the Blues to re-sign Abraham in the future due to a buy-back clause being agreed.
Some Chelsea fans will be disappointed to see Abraham leaving for Roma, but it seems like sensible business for the club to give themselves the option of potentially bringing him back in the future.
Abraham hasn’t quite managed to establish himself as a first-team regular at Stamford Bridge, but he remains a young player with real promise, and it might be that he’ll develop into a top class forward in the next few years.
The 23-year-old came up through Chelsea’s academy and had some impressive spells out on loan, but for now he’s not quite at the required level for the west London giants.
Sky Sports report that Romelu Lukaku is closing in on a move to Chelsea from Inter Milan, so it makes sense for the Blues to try balancing the books by offloading Abraham.
All in all, £34m for an academy graduate is hard to turn down and has to be seen as good business by Chelsea.