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Chelsea are expected to bring Romelu Lukaku back into the fold next season according to Gabriel Agbonlahor, who believes two of his Blues teammates would make all the difference for the Belgium international.
The Blues spent around £97m to re-sign Lukaku ahead of the 2021/22 season, but he scored just eight Premier League goals before being sent back to Inter on loan at the end of the season.
But things didn’t go to plan there either, with a hamstring injury limiting him to just 12 starts.
In his 18 league games overall, he managed just three goals and two assists.
Gazzetta dello Sport complaint Lukaku «will return to Chelsea against his will» this summer. The striker has cost «Inter more than 17 million euros this season» and the Italian giants «have not received enough in return».
Lukaku «would like to stay and is not willing to give up», but it is suggested that a «fantastic run» until the summer is needed to induce Inter to «renew the lease».
The report said Chelsea «urgently need to sell players to balance the books». «They hope to sell» Lukaku unless «the new coach absolutely wants him there».
It is unclear who that coach might be, with Julian Nagelsmann and Luis Enrique said to be the prime candidates, but Gabriel Agbonlahor has urged whoever is in charge to give Lukaku another chance.
Agbonlahor told talkSPORT: «It’s just their finish – it’s almost embarrassing when you watch them now. Chelsea just need a striker.
«Have [Hakim] Ziech, [Christian] I clean and not put [Pierre-Emerick] Aubameyang in the Champions League, it doesn’t make sense to me.
“I would bring Lukaku back. Ivan Toney is also a big screamer. They need someone who will score you goals, all types of goals and who has played in the Premier League.
“It must also be a signature to bind to Financial Fair Play. The amount of money they’ve already spent, they probably can’t go out and buy a £120m striker.
“Make the team play with Lukaku’s strengths. When Lukaku was at Chelsea, [Ben] Cold and [Reece] James was injured and they weren’t putting the ball in the area for him. He wasn’t getting service.
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