Romelu Lukaku will likely never "play for Chelsea again" as the player's surprise switch to Italian giants Juventus nears ever closer, per Sky Sports News reporter Kaveh Solhekol.
Is Romelu Lukaku leaving Chelsea?
There have been a fair few transfer flops in the Premier League over the years, with players like Nicolas Pepe, Alvaro Morata, or Harry Maguire struggling to live up to their hefty price tags and lofty expectations, but there might be no bigger transfer disaster in recent memory quite like Lukaku's move to Chelsea in 2021.
It all started so well for the Belgian international. He made the £97.5m switch and started scoring almost immediately, with his performance against Arsenal at the Emirates a particular highlight in those early weeks.
However, the goals soon started to dry up, and during a period on the sidelines, he had that infamous interview with Sky Italia, where he professed his love for Inter whilst criticising Thomas Tuchel, a decision from which he never recovered.
He spent last season back with the Italian side, and from all accounts, it looked like he could've made the move permanent, but after recent developments, he might be swapping Milan for Turin.
According to reports from Italy (via the Telegraph), the Belgian international has snubbed Inter after feeling aggrieved that he did not start the Champions League final last month and that, where the famous Blue and Black were once favourites to sign the striker, it is now Juventus who are the new favourites to land his signature.
This has created a situation where the only club in Europe willing to sign the Antwerp-born titan are the Bianconeri, although he does still have an offer to join the immensely wealthy Saudi Pro League, per Kaveh Solhekol.
He explained the situation live on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"Inter Milan have made a couple of bids to sign him. Over the weekend, our colleagues over at Sky Italy were reporting that Inter Milan had decided to pull out of negotiations to sign him because they found out he had been in talks to sign for their great rivals Juventus.
"So at the moment, Juventus are the ones who are the favourites to sign him. I think he would cost around £35m, he does have an offer from Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia as well. But what's clear is that I don't think he's ever going to play for Chelsea again."
How did Romelu Lukaku perform for Inter Milan last season?
With Chelsea seemingly set on selling Lukaku for a third of what they paid for him, you'd think he was just as abysmal for Inter last year as he was for the Blues the year before, but this isn't the case.
He certainly wasn't a world-beater for I Nerazzurri last year, but he was no flop. According to WhoScored, he averaged a match rating of 6.96 across his 19 Serie A starts, scoring ten goals and assisting a further six, earning himself three Man of the Match awards along the way.
His underlying numbers were impressive as well, with FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, putting him in the top 2% for assists, the top 6% for expected assists and shot-creating actions, the top 7% progressive passes received, the top 20% for non-penalty goals, and the top 21% for non-penalty expected goals.
His performances last season showed that he still had it, especially in the 3-2 win against Atalanta, when he won plaudits from the media for his performance, with La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Football Italia) saying:
"Romelu calls Istanbul. A fury, almost unmarkable in the one-on-one, focused on the third goal. Highly sought after by his team-mates, the best signal."
Hopefully, he can maintain his resurgence as one of Italy's best goalscorers if he makes the move to Juventus.
