This week, Inter Milan will present a fresh offer for Romelu Lukaku, as the Chelsea forward is open to sacrificing approximately £1 million annually in wages to secure a permanent return to Italy.
Chelsea have turned down one bid from Inter for Lukaku, with a demand of £40m, and have sought to orchestrate a three-team bidding war involving the Champions League finalists, Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal, and Juventus.
Lukaku has assured Inter that he has no intention of joining Juventus and has not accepted an offer from Al Hilal. Instead, he is focused on reuniting with Inter, where he spent last season on loan.
Inter are actively pursuing Lukaku’s permanent signing, and the 30-year-old is willing to accept a salary reduction in order to facilitate the move.
Currently earning nearly £140,000 per week after taxes, Lukaku has proposed a reduction to approximately £120,000 per week to rejoin Inter.
Inter are structuring a bid totaling around £35 million, including bonuses, and hope it will be sufficient to persuade Chelsea to end his unsatisfactory second stint at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea’s newly appointed head coach, Mauricio Pochettino, stated that if no agreement is reached for Lukaku’s departure, he expects the striker to report for pre-season training on Wednesday or Thursday.
Nevertheless, there is a strong likelihood that Lukaku will not return and is hopeful that Chelsea will agree to sell him before potential difficulties arise.
While Christian Pulisic will not have to return to Chelsea, as the club has reached an agreement with AC Milan for his sale, the futures of Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang and Hakim Ziyech remain undecided.
Ziyech may still move to Al Nassr, even though a prospective deal to transfer him to Saudi Arabia initially stalled, while Aubameyang is attracting interest from Al Ettifaq, where Steven Gerrard has recently assumed the role of manager.